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Passenger stabbed and decapitated on Greyhound bus; passengers question bus safety
Another story to be filed under "What's wrong with people?"
Wednesday night, a 40-year old man aboard a Canadian Greyhound bus traveling from Edmonton, Alberta, to Winnipeg stabbed and then decapitated a fellow passenger, USA Today reports. He was arrested at the end of the whole thing, in case you were wondering.
This story has gotten extensive coverage all over the world. People have been quoted as saying they'll never take the bus ever again, until safety regulations on buses are in place. I don't know. Can you really draw conclusions from one weird case?
In case you haven't heard exactly what happened, here is a glimpse, according to fellow passengers interviewed by Associated Press:
The victim, who appeared to be about 19, was sleeping with headphones on when his seat mate suddenly began stabbing him as the bus traveled a desolate stretch of the TransCanada Highway, a dozen miles from Portage La Prairie. He stabbed him about 40-50 times.
The bus stopped and the passengers tried to get away while the attacker allegedly began calmly and methodically carving up the man's body. Unbelievable.
Passengers disembarked and braced themselves against the door to prevent the attacker from leaving while they waited for police to arrive. The attacker went back and brought the head to the front and dropped it on the ground in front of the passengers.
Well, this is a good time to ask the question, I guess. Would you take a Greyhound anytime soon?
Filed under: North America, Canada
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Slappy Aug 1st 2008 3:59PM
I wouldn't take Greyhound because it doesn't meet my needs, an incident like this does not change my opinion about any particular mode of transportation.
Jakub O. Aug 1st 2008 8:33PM
Although I never took nor had any intention to take the Greyhound, I would not allow an isolated incident such as this prevent me from doing so. Certainly, anyone who is capable of carrying out such a heinous act is, thankfully, a rarity.
On the one hand, Greyhound should have taken precautions that would prevent one from taking a butcher knife on the bus. On the other, this sort of crime might have occurred in a mall, or on public transportation.
I can only guess but I imagine that the killer had chosen his victim before hand. People like this do not act on impulse. They are controlled and methodical. To say the least, he was sick beyond belief and his psychological makeup is beyond most of our comprehension. It sickens me to read what he did and sad over what the victims family must be feeling, but I will not allow myself to feel scared.
nearby41 Aug 1st 2008 10:26PM
My thoughts and paryers go out to not only the victim's family, but to those that walked out on a dying man and thought only of themselves. I can not imagine why a bus driver would pull over while all the passengers filed out and even passed the attacker stabbing the victim (40 to 50 times!!!!!) and then close the door behind them as he began to "methotically carvie the victim?!!! in order so that the attacker would not get out while they waited for police. Were there no men on the bus? What if it were your child? How can a bus load not think that they could overtake this one attacker? How could you sleep with yourselves?
dopty dope Aug 8th 2008 3:37PM
it's a psychological principle that
would repeat itself an infinite number
of times given similar circumstances.
you'd have been in queue walking out
with the rest of them.
Anon Aug 1st 2008 11:09PM
Nearby41, I completely agree with you. While it's hard for us to judge since we weren't there in that horrific situation, I can't believe that not one of the 37 passengers tried to stop him and save that poor young man. I'm not sure what they could have done, but isn't it so sad for his family to know that the others left him on the bus. It makes no sense. My prayers go out to them.
dopty dope Aug 8th 2008 3:56PM
did none of you take an intro or social psych course, ever?
humans will transform into lemmings in a heart-beat.
i'm sorry for that boy. dreadfully sorry, but what those folks did was to be expected, and i guarantee you each would have done the same. we don't know how big or fast that man was or if he had ever been trained in special forces and snapped because of post traumatic stress. i don't think he chose his victim b4 hand. i think he snapped and that poor kid just happened to be there. it could've been anyone. who carries around a butcher knife? why not kill the boy earlier? why wait til he's on the bus? surely if the killer were "sane" he'd have tried to do the killing in a less conspicuous manner to avoid being caught. the killing was random, and a result of the killer's emotion/mental state. from a non psychological perspective, the other passengers had no way of communicating instantly with one another to stop the man. the poor kid, depending upon the 1st couple of wounds, the victim may have already been dead way before the end of the killer's onslaught, which means there would have been absolutely nothing they could have done to begin with. this type of judgment could only come from the uneducated. we should be sad at the event, but we should rejoice no one else had their lives' taken.
jb Aug 6th 2008 9:47PM
>>"Well, this is a good time to ask the question, I guess. Would you take a Greyhound anytime soon?"
---
What a stupid question. This could have happened anywhere - linking it to Greyhound is inane.
The issue is not the safety of a particular common carrier, but about mental illness and our society as a whole. Or, for that matter, about that horribly unstable and dangerous country Canada, where this incident occurred.
If you want to make broad and meaningless statements about isolated incidents, how about the woman traveling on Amtrak, with an elderly parent who died en route. The woman didn't say anything until the train reached its destination, because she didn't want to pay for a hearse. "Would you take _Amtrak_ anytime soon?".
Or the dead woman found this week in an airline lav. "Would you take _Delta_ anytime soon?".
Please, let's all support Gadling's campaign to dumb America down even more....
Vage Aug 2nd 2008 3:19AM
what a crazy man eventually buses will probably have security checks for dangerous weapons
Harvey Aug 2nd 2008 11:37AM
Without any facts I see commentors come to the conclusion that the passengers only thought of themselves in their actions. How judgementally ignorant!
Trained professionals have a hard time controlling violent mentally unstable perps without using their weapons, even with tasers and pepper sprays, and that's when they are trained and organized.
I think evacuating the bus and securing the perp inside it, shielding passengers, many of whom were children, was remarkable enough but to actually expect that anyone could have stopped this travesty is as ignorant as it is arrogant. And, to judge them too? Totally absurd and naive.
As to traveling by Greyhound. I already am planning to this summer. Why not?
Yes, it wouldn't hurt to do security checks but, given the number of incidents, it may be wasteful to do so.
Karen Aug 2nd 2008 6:55PM
I agree that it's not Greyhounds fault in any way, it could've happened anywhere at any time. I feel for the victim's family. I also completely agree with the actions of the passengers though.
Think about it. The guy probably stabbed the other guy severals times before anyone realised what was going on and started freaking out. My guess, the guy was already dead by the time the bus even stopped and people began fleeing. Yes, I would run too, I wouldn't want to be the next person stabbed. Who knows what drugs the guy was on or what medication he skipped when he was doing this. I wouldn't put myself in harms way for someone already dead. They did prevent him from leaveing the bus, which was a smart thing to do, and this also prevented him form going after anyone else or causing more injuries/death.
I have no doubt that he would have continued a stabbing spree on someone else who tried to take him down. He stab 40-50 times, there has to be some kind of rage or mental breakdown. To decapitate the victim after realising that he couldn't get out of the bus and then dropping the head where they can see it, this tells me that he would've prefered another person to stab but used decapitation to vent he stabbing needs.
Karen Aug 2nd 2008 7:12PM
Here's an article with some more info on this attack. Apparently a couple people DID go back on the bus and disabled it to keep him from driving away until police arrived. And there was also some flesh-eating involved....
http://news.aol.com/article/bus-killer-allegedly-ate-victims-flesh/111938
Danielle Aug 3rd 2008 1:12AM
You've got to be kidding me- if this happened at a McDonalds would anyone say it had anything to do with Ronald? Who gives a **** if it happened on a greyhound! That has nothing to do with it! The guy's crazy! You think there's some kind of effect greyhound has on people to make them do stuff like this?! He was crazy with or without greyhound! Would anyone blame HERTZ rent-a-car if a guy used one of their cars in a homicide? I think if long commercial bus rides had anything to do with it we'd have seen this sort of thing before.
Dave Aug 3rd 2008 12:59PM
Jb and Danielle hit the nail on the head. How could this event possibly sway someone from taking the bus. It was a RANDOM attack.
Would you stop using your car because someone thousands of miles away was car-jacked?
A more appropriate question might be: What does this mean for Greyhound and it's security operations?
In fact, those topics have been covered in the mainstream media -- but I don't see a follow-up here.
Dave
Dave Aug 3rd 2008 8:49PM
Tragic knife attack in Greece!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7539944.stm
Would you take a trip to Greece (or Europe) anytime soon?!
Cait Aug 5th 2008 1:09AM
I don't care about where it happened, it's a metal box, big deal.
As to the incident, who cares, we all deserve the same. Humans don't deserve life.
Tara Aug 7th 2008 1:14PM
One person dies and the world goes crazy. "Tim never made it home - yadda yadda yadda."
Never mind those thousands if not millions of people in third word countries dieing every minute or so due to "murder".
People disgust me sometimes.
Shellydew Aug 5th 2008 11:52PM
While this guy was clearly crazy, the environment was perfect for him. The venue is relevant, and I can understand anyone's decision not to take a bus right now. People on long bus trips of course fall asleep. If you are travelling alone, you likely have a stranger sitting next to you. Would you share your hotel room with a stranger? And if all things were generally equal on a plane vs. a bus (not anymore because of the carry on screening obviously) consider that on a plane you have a) better lighting and b) one or more well trained flight attendants keeping an eye on things. No one is looking out for passengers on a bus. I don't take the bus because, snobby as this sounds, people who can't afford to fly take the bus. People who don't want to or couldnt get through airport security take the bus. I won't even take Amtrak except in Business class. There is a much different type of clientele in business class than coach, and business class is the last car on the opposite end of the club car, so people who do not have a seat there are not trapsing back and forth past you.
It is a shame that people nearby weren't able or willing to help but then again some or most of them were probably sleeping too, and inside it was probably so dark, it was probably very difficult if not impossible to figure out right away what was happening. Some of them have very high seat backs too. I mean if it just so happened a cop or someone in the military had been right there, they might have known how to react. But that still may not have saved the guy, but it would have prevented some of the savagery. It is so horrible and I feel so badly for the kid and his family and friends.
Silent Majority Aug 6th 2008 9:15PM
I have, and always will take the Greyhound bus regardless of an isolated incident. People need to man up! The people on Flight 93 did it. Regardless of outcome, think about the kid in trouble. He was somebody's son, nephew, best friend and/or college roommate. It's so sad that we are so quick to not get involved with other people's affairs that it has hindered us from taking action when a fellow human being needs help.
I agree with Shellydew....and my thoughts and prayers are with this young man's family.
Jord Aug 7th 2008 1:20PM
Lulz, I just took the Greyhound yesterday. So, no, it won't prevent me from taking the buses. On the other hand, the ridiculous level of discomfort might, at least for long trips. I took it cuz it was cheap, and cheap is what I got. If you can afford it, and you are going a long distance, take a car or plane. (I guess it would be okay if the buses weren't packed full of people and you had an extra seat to sprawl out on...but you can't count on that!)
Greyhound is good for short distances, though, and it is relatively environmentally friendly. People get stabbed to death walking down the street, too, btw. Incidents like that are bound to happen anywhere. One of the best parts about my Greyhound experience was not having to deal with all the BS privacy violations that are symptomatic of modern air travel, and I felt perfectly safe the whole time.