Gun pointed on Winnipeg Transit bus, right outside police headquarters
'The violence is becoming unprecedented,' transit union VP says
A fight broke out on a Winnipeg Transit bus in downtown Winnipeg early Friday morning after a person pulled a gun and pointed it at another passenger, according to the union representing bus drivers.
"Our operator is very shaken up over this. He couldn't believe what was happening and how fast it happened," said Derek Hanley, executive vice-president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1505, who has spoken with the driver.
The incident happened near the corner of Graham Avenue and Smith Street, right outside the police headquarters building. Seconds after the fight started, the person with the gun ran to the front of the bus, aimed it at the safety shield protecting the driver, and demanded to be let off, Hanley said.
The driver opened the door and the gunman ran toward Portage Avenue.
"They no more had got on the bus and the altercation started, the weapon was pulled and the next thing the weapon was pointed at [the driver]," Hanley said. "He just went, 'I stopped the bus, I opened the door, I let him off and I just prayed to god he didn't shoot me."
In an email to CBC News, police spokesperson Const. Claude Chancy confirmed an incident occurred on a bus at approximately 12:30 a.m.
"The suspect, reported to be armed with a firearm, fled before police arrived. No injuries were reported and the incident is being investigated," he wrote.
The incident comes three days after Winnipeg Crime Stoppers launched a campaign to raise awareness about troubles on the transit system and urge riders to report crimes anonymously.
"The violence is becoming unprecedented. We used to have just punches on our operators and we put in half-shields to be able to mitigate that. But now we're seeing machete attacks, we're seeing pepper spray … [and] the gun calls are becoming more frequent," Hanley said.
"Now it is weapons on an unprecedented level."
He pointed to an incident on Tuesday in which a driver had to crawl out their window and run to safety while someone was trying to get at them behind the half shield.
"The assailant came over the dashboard, through the driver's compartment and out the window after [the operator]," Hanley said, noting the driver managed to get away.
While Friday's incident took place downtown, occurrences of violence are not restricted to one area of the city, he said. The one in which the driver scrambled through the window happened in the city's South Pointe neighbourhood.
"It doesn't matter where we are in the city now. Our members are getting attacked everywhere," Hanley said.
A lot of operators are currently off work due to mental health issues, he added, but didn't provide a number.
He said the majority of people committing crimes on the buses are those who walk on without paying the fare.
"They're feeling empowered to do this: 'If I don't have to pay a fare then I don't have to follow any rules on the bus.' They feel that it's the Wild West and they can do whatever they want," Hanley said.
"What we need is fare enforcement. Winnipeg Transit has started to do a fare education campaign … but that only goes so far: Those are only the people who care about paying the fare."
Enforcement would hold people accountable and prevent those who don't pay from boarding, he said. And if they can't board "they won't be able to commit these crimes to the passengers or our operators."
There have been 183 acts of violence against a passenger or driver this year on transit buses, Hanley said, ranging from shoving and punching to the use of weapons.
The total is fewer than the 257 at this time last year, "but the severity has increased," he said, saying weapons are far more common now.
A crew of community safety officers, created in response to concerns about safety on Winnipeg Transit, began working in February, tasked with patrolling streets and riding transit. They are trained in de-escalation techniques and have the authority to detain individuals.
However, Hanley hesitates to call them safety officers.
"They were supposed to be riding the transit system in order to help reduce the level of violence. We believe they're out there and they're doing the job they're supposed to do, but they are so limited in numbers," he said.
"I believe they only have 21 on their staff and at any one time, especially during rush hour, we could have over 500 buses on the road. They need more people in order to make it a viable effort."
Making a significant dent in the violence will require a multi-faceted approach with several partners and a lot more funding from government, Hanley said.
"We need all levels of government to come together."
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With files from Alana Cole