Bus passenger beheaded seat mate, witness says
From CNN.com
As horrified travelers watched, a Greyhound Canada bus passenger repeatedly stabbed and then decapitated a young man who was sitting and sleeping beside him, a witness said Thursday.
Police officers and cars surround the bus near Portage la Prairie, Canada, on Wednesday night.
"There was a bloodcurdling scream. I was just reading my book, and all of a sudden, I heard it," Garnet Caton, who was sitting in front of the two men, said of the Wednesday night incident west of Portage la Prairie in Manitoba.
"It was like something between a dog howling and a baby crying, I guess you could say," Caton said. "I don't think it will leave me for a while."
Passengers exited the bus, and a trucker who stopped provided wrenches and crowbars to several of them so they could keep the suspect on the bus until police came, witnesses told Canadian TV.
The suspect was seized with the help of negotiators, Royal Canadian Mounted Police Sgt. Steve Colwell said.
He said no formal charges had been filed, and he declined to identify either the man in custody or the victim, who were among 34 passengers.
The was no immediate indication of what prompted the attack, Colwell said. He said he didn't know how many times the victim was stabbed. Witnesses described the weapon as a large butcher-type knife.
Caton told The Associated Press that the victim appeared to be about 19 years old and had gotten on the bus in Edmonton.
Colwell praised the "extraordinary" level-headedness and bravery of the bus driver and passengers.
"What you saw and what you experienced would shake the most seasoned police officer. And yet I'm told that each of you acted swiftly, calmly and bravely," Colwell said. "As a result, no one else was injured."
The police received a call reporting the attack at 8:30 p.m. By the time they arrived at the scene, everyone except the knife-wielder and his victim had left the bus, Colwell said. The incident ended about 1:30 a.m.
The bus was traveling along the Trans-Canada Highway from Edmonton, Alberta, to Winnipeg, Manitoba, and was about 45 minutes from its destination when the attack occurred, Greyhound spokeswoman Abby Wambaugh said in Dallas, Texas.
Caton said the victim was sleeping with his head leaning against the window when the attack happened. Caton said he shouted at the other passengers, many of whom also were sleeping, to leave. Watch Caton describe what he saw »
"Everybody got off the bus. Me and a trucker that stopped and the Greyhound driver ran up to the door to maybe see if the guy was still alive or we could help or something like that," Caton said.
"And when we all got up, we saw that the guy was cutting off the guy's head. ... When he saw us, he came back to the front of the bus, told the driver to shut the door. He pressed the button and the door shut, but it didn't shut in time, and the guy was able to get his knife out and take a swipe at us," Caton said.
Caton told the AP that the attacker didn't sit near the victim when he first got on the bus, about an hour before the attack.
"He sat in the front at first; everything was normal," Caton said. "We went to the next stop, and he got off and had a smoke with another young lady there. When he got on the bus again, he came to the back near where I was sitting. He put his bags in the overhead compartment. He didn't say a word to anybody. He seemed totally normal."
Half an hour later, the attack began, Caton told the AP. "There was no rage or anything. He was like a robot, stabbing the guy."
The incident occurred on the first of two Greyhound Canada buses that were traveling together, Wambaugh said. The bus was carrying 37 passengers. As many passengers as possible among those not directly involved in the incident were transferred to the second bus, she said.
Others were taken to a hotel in Brandon, where they were met by Greyhound managers and police, Wambaugh said.
Once they are released, Greyhound will take them by bus to Winnipeg, and "we will do whatever is required to help them, and that includes counseling," she added.
Wambaugh declined to comment further.
"I don't want to compromise the investigation," she said.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Mediocre
Friday, 4:00 bus to DC.
The ticket kiosks are out of order. I have to wait on a short line for the Will-Call tickets. A man in the general ticket-buying line tells me that I should wait on line because he had to wait on line. We are next to eachother. I am in a separate short line, and he is in a looping wrap-around long line. He says that I shouldn't be allowed to cut the fucking line. He says this to me again and again. I am not even looking at him. I normally avoid confrontational strangers, but he kept going on and on. I told him that I am on the Will-Call line, and he did not understand. I told him that I did not cut him on line, and he could read the fucking sign that said this was the Will-Call line. He was quiet. I normally ignore people like him who are obviously wrong and cranky, but I was already angry that the kiosks were broken. He stared at me the rest of the time I was on line. I got my ticket before him, and I smiled meanly when I walked away. I hoped that he wasn't going to DC.
The 4:00 to Silver Spring arrives, people board. People wonder if they should get on or wait for the 4:30 Express. I text Matt to see what he thinks. I decide to wait. The bus leaves 9 minutes early. Several Silver Springers arrive after bus departs and are confused/angry. One girl missed the bus, and from my before and after the bus left observation of her -- she missed it because she was waiting for a female relative to bring her McDonalds - a female relative who did not wait with her for the next Silver Spring bus -- scheduled for 6:00.
I buy a Diet Coke, and only realize two days later that I was overcharged.
I give some money to a man in a Sick of It All shirt, who claims that he needs money to get to Chicago. He didn't say thank you.
Board bus, use overhead bin. I choose a perfect seat, and was already comfortable when two women board. They want a seat together. I avoid eye contact, I text someone to give me the appearance of a busy person. They ask the woman behind me if she minded moving, so they can sit together. She thinks it's fine. I end up moving, and am not happy about it. One woman jokingly said that they won't talk the whole time. They did. One of them also moved her seat back all the way.
My seatmate is quiet and sleeps. She texts, and sleeps, and wears sunglasses. We don't talk, but I overhear her speaker-phone conversation. Her two children are staying with their grandmother, one of them needed to ice some body part, and she will be getting on a plane on Saturday to pick them up. Her phone will be fixed the next day, if she finds time.
The ride is fine. No stops. No stinks. I started and finished a book. I watched a Netflix. I texted. I studied for 2 minutes. I accidentally texted M when I meant to text P and it was about M. He called me out on it.
I get off the bus, and one of the women who made me move my seat asks me where she can get a cab. I tell her.
I announce M's address to the group of taxi-drivers. One says he will be bring me there for $20.00. I smile and laugh and think he is joking. He is not. Another driver tells me that he will bring me for $500.00. I feel uncomfortable with the $20 man still looking at me, and knowing that he knows that his other guy is making fun of him, and say that I could take the train for less than $2.00. I go with the man who said $500. It came out to 8-something. He drove so fast. I had to switch seats because my original seatbelt didn't work, and I believe he made fun of me for being scared. I then made an awkward comment about traumatic brain injuries and car accidents. We didn't speak again.
Sunday to NY. Line is short. M waits with me. I have my Washington Post, a coffee, and a water.
I have a seat-mate. He is quiet and has an arm tattoo that says "I love you." He stares out the window the whole time.
A man across from me is very annoying and reads up to Chapter 4 in a book and then calls several people to talk about it. He is loud.
A woman behind me -- who I noticed switched her seat twice before settling down behind me -- had her sneaker in my face the whole time. She put her sneaker on my arm rest. I made sure to brush my A Fig Walked into Bar fruit bar crumbs onto her sneaker. I took a cell-phone photo and texted it so someone else knew that I had to deal with a sneaker in my face. I stared at the sneaker. I wanted it to move. It did at one point, but it came back.
A couple ate McDonalds breakfast in front of me. At approximately 1:30, maybe. It smelled. So much. I texted about it. I was told through text that McDonald's breakfast stops being served at 11:00, so this was an old McMuffin. Cold, but still smelly. A total of four McMuffins and four Hash Browns.
Ride took way too long.
I studied. I texted. I read a magazine.
So much rain, so much traffic. I was angry. That sneaker woman managed to get off the bus before I did.
The ticket kiosks are out of order. I have to wait on a short line for the Will-Call tickets. A man in the general ticket-buying line tells me that I should wait on line because he had to wait on line. We are next to eachother. I am in a separate short line, and he is in a looping wrap-around long line. He says that I shouldn't be allowed to cut the fucking line. He says this to me again and again. I am not even looking at him. I normally avoid confrontational strangers, but he kept going on and on. I told him that I am on the Will-Call line, and he did not understand. I told him that I did not cut him on line, and he could read the fucking sign that said this was the Will-Call line. He was quiet. I normally ignore people like him who are obviously wrong and cranky, but I was already angry that the kiosks were broken. He stared at me the rest of the time I was on line. I got my ticket before him, and I smiled meanly when I walked away. I hoped that he wasn't going to DC.
The 4:00 to Silver Spring arrives, people board. People wonder if they should get on or wait for the 4:30 Express. I text Matt to see what he thinks. I decide to wait. The bus leaves 9 minutes early. Several Silver Springers arrive after bus departs and are confused/angry. One girl missed the bus, and from my before and after the bus left observation of her -- she missed it because she was waiting for a female relative to bring her McDonalds - a female relative who did not wait with her for the next Silver Spring bus -- scheduled for 6:00.
I buy a Diet Coke, and only realize two days later that I was overcharged.
I give some money to a man in a Sick of It All shirt, who claims that he needs money to get to Chicago. He didn't say thank you.
Board bus, use overhead bin. I choose a perfect seat, and was already comfortable when two women board. They want a seat together. I avoid eye contact, I text someone to give me the appearance of a busy person. They ask the woman behind me if she minded moving, so they can sit together. She thinks it's fine. I end up moving, and am not happy about it. One woman jokingly said that they won't talk the whole time. They did. One of them also moved her seat back all the way.
My seatmate is quiet and sleeps. She texts, and sleeps, and wears sunglasses. We don't talk, but I overhear her speaker-phone conversation. Her two children are staying with their grandmother, one of them needed to ice some body part, and she will be getting on a plane on Saturday to pick them up. Her phone will be fixed the next day, if she finds time.
The ride is fine. No stops. No stinks. I started and finished a book. I watched a Netflix. I texted. I studied for 2 minutes. I accidentally texted M when I meant to text P and it was about M. He called me out on it.
I get off the bus, and one of the women who made me move my seat asks me where she can get a cab. I tell her.
I announce M's address to the group of taxi-drivers. One says he will be bring me there for $20.00. I smile and laugh and think he is joking. He is not. Another driver tells me that he will bring me for $500.00. I feel uncomfortable with the $20 man still looking at me, and knowing that he knows that his other guy is making fun of him, and say that I could take the train for less than $2.00. I go with the man who said $500. It came out to 8-something. He drove so fast. I had to switch seats because my original seatbelt didn't work, and I believe he made fun of me for being scared. I then made an awkward comment about traumatic brain injuries and car accidents. We didn't speak again.
Sunday to NY. Line is short. M waits with me. I have my Washington Post, a coffee, and a water.
I have a seat-mate. He is quiet and has an arm tattoo that says "I love you." He stares out the window the whole time.
A man across from me is very annoying and reads up to Chapter 4 in a book and then calls several people to talk about it. He is loud.
A woman behind me -- who I noticed switched her seat twice before settling down behind me -- had her sneaker in my face the whole time. She put her sneaker on my arm rest. I made sure to brush my A Fig Walked into Bar fruit bar crumbs onto her sneaker. I took a cell-phone photo and texted it so someone else knew that I had to deal with a sneaker in my face. I stared at the sneaker. I wanted it to move. It did at one point, but it came back.
A couple ate McDonalds breakfast in front of me. At approximately 1:30, maybe. It smelled. So much. I texted about it. I was told through text that McDonald's breakfast stops being served at 11:00, so this was an old McMuffin. Cold, but still smelly. A total of four McMuffins and four Hash Browns.
Ride took way too long.
I studied. I texted. I read a magazine.
So much rain, so much traffic. I was angry. That sneaker woman managed to get off the bus before I did.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
