'He just went ballistic': Edmonton bus driver stabbed at Mill Woods transit terminal
CBC News | Posted: September 26, 2018 12:19 PM | Last Updated: September 26, 2018
City councillors working on proposal to increase budget for transit security
A 15-year-old suspect is in custody after a city bus driver was stabbed early Wednesday morning at a southeast Edmonton transit station.
The driver, a 65-year-old man, was stabbed more than a dozen times, said Mark Tetterington, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union's Edmonton local.
"He was stabbed twice in the neck, in the groin area and various other locations throughout his body," Tetterington said in an interview with CBC News.
Edmonton Transit released a statement late Wednesday afternoon that said bus driver had been released from hospital.
The assault happened at 3:40 a.m. at the Mill Woods Transit Centre on Hewes Way and 25th Avenue.
'He just went ballistic'
"[The driver] exited the bus when a young youth approached him and asked him for a ride downtown," Tetterington said.
The driver then called dispatch to inquire about getting the boy a ride.
"The operator phoned control and control responded saying that they would get a police officer to meet up with the youth and transport him downtown," Tetterington said.
"From what I understand, the youth wasn't too happy with that response. He just went ballistic and stabbed the operator — and from what I understand, it was 13 times."
Police said the suspect got on the bus and stabbed the driver, who managed to escape, get inside the terminal building and phone for help.
When police arrived, the suspect was in the driver's seat trying to put the bus in gear and drive off, said Edmonton police spokesperson Cheryl Sheppard.
The boy was arrested and remains in custody.
Police said the driver remains in hospital with serious, but non-life-threatening injuries.
The driver, who has been working for ETS for at least five years, is expected to make a full recovery, Tetterington said.
"He's going to be OK," Tetterington said. "He's going to be released from hospital. It never hit any vital organs."
Early morning commuters were directed to buses located on Hewes Way north and south, due to the ongoing investigation inside the transit building.
Numbers provided by the city show 73 drivers were assaulted in 2017, up from 57 in 2016 and 42 in in 2015.
Most often, drivers were punched or spat on, although many were bitten, kicked or had something thrown at them.
The majority of the disputes were over transit fares.
The figures show drivers on Route 8, which runs from 118th Avenue to Mill Woods, were assaulted most often, with 26 incidents since 2015.
These dangerous transit centres, we need to have a security presence, and I think that's the only solution. - Mark Tetterington
Wednesday's stabbing is the second serious assault on a driver in recent months, Tetterington said. Another ETS driver was hospitalized after an attack in July, he said.
"One guy was beaten senseless for about five minutes and he's still off work as a result of it and then we just had this one which could have been a fatality, quite easily."
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Tetterington said Wednesday's assault is a reminder that increased security is needed at Edmonton transit centres, especially during the overnight hours.
"We've been pushing, asking for more and more security," he said. "These dangerous transit centres, we need to have a security presence, and I think that's the only solution.
"First and foremost, for our operators' safety but secondly, they want to increase ridership but a lot of people are afraid to ride buses.They hear about incidents like this and they feel it's unsafe."
'It's appalling'
Facing increased concerns over driver safety, the city announced in February that 10 new Edmonton Transit buses will be outfitted with retractable shields.
The pilot is aimed at reducing assaults on drivers, and will allow operators on Edmonton's most problematic routes to close the Plexiglas shield when they feel threatened.
We're no longer at a point where we can do nothing. - Coun. Mike Nickel
City councillor Mike Nickel, who represents Ward 11 where the stabbing happened, said he and a few other councillors have also been working on a proposal to increase the budget for security on Edmonton Transit.
Nickel said he is concerned about the "escalating" number of assaults on transit drivers.
"It's appalling, it's shocking," Nickel said of Wednesday's assault. "We're no longer at a point where we can do nothing."
While the city budget is "tight," the security of city workers and commuters needs to be a priority, Nickel said.
Councillors Bev Esslinger, Andrew Knack and Ben Henderson echoed the need for more to be done to increase safety for both drivers and transit users.
"If an increased presence of peace officers would address, that I'm all for it," Coun. Bev Esslinger said Wednesday.
Transit users also need to be made aware of the presence of surveillance cameras at transit stations and the red emergency buttons on trains, Esslinger said.
The issue of safety during the overnight hours is particularly important, Mayor Don Iveson said.
"We need to do whatever we can to reduce risks as much as possible and support people's safety," he said. "So we're open to looking at that again and taking suggestions, from the union in particular."
"The transit union has more than made their case," Nickel said. "This is now just the latest incident. We need more security.
"The evidence is there. The numbers are there. You can't escape the data. We have to have more security."