Wayne Conrad Thompson will spend at least 25 years in prison for shooting and killing a fellow passenger on a TriMet bus in Southeast Portland in 2021.

A Multnomah County judge sentenced Thompson to life in prison Wednesday, Aug. 5, for the second-degree murder of Adrian Richardson, 44, aboard a bus on SE Hawthorne Boulevard.

The sentence carries a mandatory minimum of 25 years before Thompson becomes eligible for parole.

On Aug. 8, 2021, Richardson boarded the bus and began harassing a female passenger, according to police. Thompson, then 51, got on shortly after.

Less than a minute later, the driver stopped the bus and told Richardson to get off. Thompson yelled at Richardson, stood up, pulled a pistol from his pocket and fired five times, according to KGW, which obtained video of the encounter. The entire shooting took roughly 10 seconds, according to trial evidence cited by KATU.

Thompson then said "sorry" to the driver and walked off the bus before police arrived, The Oregonian reported.

He was arrested about three weeks later. Thompson confessed to the shooting but claimed self-defense, telling detectives Richardson had attacked him.

"All I knew was that this guy was having a spaz attack on a bunch of ladies on the bus," Thompson told detectives after his arrest in 2021. "So, I asked him to leave the bus and then he decided to have a spaz attack and come and try attack me and I finished him."

A jury convicted Thompson of second-degree murder with a firearm in June 2026. A judge separately found him guilty of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Multnomah County Deputy District Attorneys Eric Zimmerman and Branden Meadows prosecuted the case.

During the sentencing hearing, Thompson complained about his lawyers, doctors and the legal process. His defense team has signaled plans to appeal.

Richardson's mother and two aunts were in the courtroom for the hearing.

The case is the second TriMet murder to result in a life sentence within the past year. In October 2025, Shondel Larkin was sentenced after being found guilty but insane for stabbing Michael Brady to death on a MAX train in March 2024.

At that sentencing, Deputy District Attorney Julian Samuels said, "Public transit is a place where every rider should feel safe."

TriMet's system uses more than 10,000 security cameras across stations, transit centers and vehicles. Riders who witness a security concern can text or call 503-238-7433 (RIDE) around the clock or dial 911 in an emergency.