Less than an hour before his death, Teotico told a friend he was meeting with a coworker to collect money and asked the friend to accompany him to ensure the exchange went “smoothly,” according to investigators. That friend later called 911 to report the shooting on Friday night.
Around 9:30 p.m., however, Teotico’s friend was driving near the Chaboya bus yard, where he saw Teotico and another man speaking between two cars.
Teotico’s friend heard two to three “bangs” come from the parking lot and saw a white car parked next to Teotico’s vehicle drive past him, going southbound on South 7th Street toward Tully Road.
The friend followed the white car for a short time but then returned to the VTA parking lot to check on Teotico, who he found unresponsive and “slumped over backwards sitting in the driver’s seat with blood coming from his nose.”
Security camera footage from the VTA yard showed Bui and Teotico meeting at the rear of the Mercedes and looking into the trunk before Teotico closed it and went back to his driver’s seat.
Bui carried a black bag or folder in his left hand and had what appeared to be blue latex gloves, investigators said. When he walked to the front passenger door, he opened it, pulled a black firearm out of the bag and “fired several shots at Teotico.”
Detectives found three 40-caliber shell casings at the scene. A later search of Bui’s home turned up three guns registered to him, including two 40 caliber Glock-brand handguns.
Deputy District Attorney Michael Gilman said investigators are still looking into the firearms and plan to have crime labs analyze the weapons.
While the DA’s office is not currently alleging the murder was premeditated, Gilman said he feels the evidence will support that allegation, eventually, and the charge could be adjusted.
The money owed amounted to “thousands of dollars,” according to Gilman, but he didn’t offer a specific amount.
Earlier this week, VTA general manager Carolyn Gonot described Teotico as a “kind, hardworking driver who was well known amongst his colleagues.”
She said he was a father to two teenagers and that the VTA was “fortunate to have him as part of our staff for 10 years.”
The shooting of one VTA employee by another has stirred up painful trauma for many at the agency and in the community, officials said, as it came a little more than three and a half years after the May 2021 mass shooting at a VTA rail yard. In that shooting, a disgruntled VTA staffer fatally shot nine of his coworkers and then took his own life.
“We express our deepest condolences to the whole VTA community and the family of Mr. Teotico,” Gilman said. “We know that the VTA community is hurting. This is bringing back horrible memories from that horrible mass shooting.”
Gilman added that if any VTA workers need support, they can contact the agency’s Resiliency Center at 669-308-1475.
“There’s drop-in services, there’s mental health treatment groups to try to help move past both the original mass shooting and any horrible memories that are kind of brought back up because of this incident,” Gilman said.
