Man Stabbed, Decapitated on Canadian Greyhound Bus: Should We Increase Bus Security?
by sassymonkey

In Canada we like to believe that violent crime does not happen but of course it does. Sensationally violent crimes, however, are so infrequent that they are not part of our collective consciousness. When I got up this morning and heard the news that a man had stabbed and decapitated another passenger on a Greyhound bus in Manitoba I was stunned and horrified. This should not happen in Canada. This should not happen anywhere.

But news reports are proving that this is not simply a bad dream. CTV, CBC, and the National Post are all there telling me that yes this really has happened. That late Wednesday night outside of Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, one man on a Greyhound bus attacked another man, stabbing him repeatedly and decapitating him. Witnesses are saying that the victim was sleeping with his headphones on at the time of the attack and no one remembers that the two men exchanging any words at all. They are saying that the attack was unprovoked which only deepens the despair of Canadians across the country. The police have not yet released any information about either the victim or the assailant. All we know that it is as Dear Jane Says, the stuff that horror movies are made of.

I used to travel by bus quite a bit. When I was a student I could rarely afford airfare between Montreal and my hometown. I've taken overnight trips on the bus so many times that it's hard not to go to that place in your head that says "what if". As Jessica of Tacos and Cavier puts it:

Can you imagine traveling along, listening to your mp3 player and waking up to that?
In Canada?
Seriously horrifying.

Like Cheryl, who blogs at Observations of a News Junkie, it got many people thinking about bus security, something that for all intents and purposes does not exist.

One of my first thoughts was that soon bus security will be as tough as at the airport, but safety minister Stockwell Day said that won’t happen, since the incident was extremely rare. Still, maybe bus transportation companies should have at least a short list of prohibited items … like knives, maybe?

Stockwell Day is right about security - every bus stop cannot be made as secure as an airport. Greyhound buses service large parts of rural Canada, and when we say rural, we mean rural. Outside of town centers bus stops are frequently gas stations or convenience stores just off the highway. I looked up Greyhound Canada's Baggage Policy. There are restrictions for what may go into your checked baggage but I can't find anything about items being prohibited in carry-ons. Buses in Canada don't even have a passenger list. And yet in this CTV News article Greyhound spokesperson is quoted as saying that travelling by bus is still "the safest mode of transportation in the country."

Should buses have some security? Should ID be required to purchase and board a bus? Do you believe that bus travel really is safe?

Contributing Editor Sassymonkey blogs at Sassymonkey and Sassymonkey Reads.

Submitted by sassymonkey (view blog) on Thu, 07/31/2008 - 15:35

Comments

 

I dreaded this.

Sometimes, a random act of violence is just that. A random act. I would put to you that whoever the perpetrator was, he was undoubtedly not in his right mind. In fact, I suspect that if he ever was in his right mind, it was due to a serious psychotropic regimen.

It's horrible and ugly and brutal and really tragic for the family of the innocent victim.

But a need to make it a security issue? There you've lost me. After all the years that have passed, I'm amazed that a random incident triggers a discussion about "security measures".

We cannot live in padded cells, much as that might be appealing. What we should be wondering in this case is how an individual that out of touch with reality was able to walk the streets without any kind of supervision, not whether or not there should be a pat down at every bus depot.

We could always get into the sublime and talk about the ramifications for urban public transit, too.

Submitted by Wyliekat on Thu, 07/31/2008 - 20:38
 

Rattled.

This story rattled me. At first it was the gut-wrenching "oh my God, how does that happen anywhere but in horror movies?" thought. Then it was the "can you imagine how those other passengers felt experiencing that?" thought. Then there was the dispair for the victim's family. And now, there's this inexplicable fear. The randomness of it all has shaken me pretty much to my core. The prairies are safe, or safe by most scary random murder standards anyway.

Ten minutes ago I arrived home Starbucks with a friend. An SUV was flying through puddles by the school across the street. The darkness, the speed and the anonymous nature of the moment combined with the fact that we'd just been talking about the murder and I was back scared goosebump mode caused me to sprint the 25 feet from my car to my front door, shaking as I struggled to get the key in the lock. 

Is this what it's come to? Being completely terrified of random strangers because they might be a gigantic knife-carrying psycho? I hope not. But at the same time is it a reminder that often we are too comfortable in our own surroundings and not aware of what is going on around us?

I likely will not sleep well tonight. There are too many people affected by this. So many that it was the number one story picked up around the world today, ranked #1 on BBC and on CNN. 

Submitted by Samantha on Fri, 08/01/2008 - 00:04
 

Man Stabbed, Decapitated on Greyhound Bus

I live in the United States and  I have been a frequent Greyhound traveler. When  i heard this story I was absolutely horrified. If im not mistaken murder is rare in Canada and I was so sick and saddened that this happened there. I am absolutely terrified of going to sleep on a bus  from now on not knowing what would happen. I have thought that maybe  Greyhound would step up security measures in the wake of the 9/11 attacks and the company has done absolutely nothing and coming up with excuses. The drivers have some form of protection but how about the passengers? We pay a pretty penny on our fares and we expect  something in return. How shameful!  Occasionally I would chat with my fellow pasengers and most of them are friendly. I never encountered one that was not talkative and had that look in their eyes that was described by one passenger about the murderer.  In the history of the company this is one of the  most grisly crimes ever committed and they say that this is one of the rare cases. Give me a break?  Several other attacks  have occured on Greyhound buses here in the United States including  several fatalities  but far  this is the most atrocious.. Greyhound needs to wake up and consider their passengers safety. Until then I will suspend travelling with Greyhound until they take action. I dont know if Canada has the death penalty or not  but this brute deserves the most severest form of punishment that the Canadian Judicial System can hand out.

 

Submitted by Pebbles43 on Fri, 08/01/2008 - 06:24
 

It Is Too Rare.

In the history of the company this is one of the  most grisly crimes
ever committed and they say that this is one of the rare cases. Give me
a break?  Several other attacks  have occured on Greyhound buses here
in the United States including  several fatalities  but far  this is
the most atrocious..

 

It is rare, sure its shocking and horrible but its rare. Thousands of people take the bus every day, either Grayhound or a city bus. They do so safely for the most part. In the history of Grayhound there have only been a few incidents, granted this makes the third attack since 2001 and probably the first in Canada.  Which is why it's considered rare, because there have only been three incidents where someone attacked someone on the Grayhound lines out of thousands of passengers having been transported safetly.

 

You know how they say serial killers are rare? Well its the same thing here. Why? For the most part when people kill other people, its people they know. Does it happen, sure, but your still more likely to get murdered by someone you know rather than a complete stranger.

Submitted by bbfreak on Fri, 08/01/2008 - 22:15
 

Greyhound Security

Security is one issue with it's own crest of complexities. The true nature of the problem surrounding the senseless stabbing of a passenger on a Greyhound is not so much an issue for public transportaion safety as much as it is a community and societal issue.

The deinstitutionalization of mental hospitals and supplanting them for Correctional and Community Facilities places a heavy burden on communities. A crime has to occur before an individual is detected as being dangerous or portentially dangerous. Screening for behavioral and social anomilies in individuals does not occur in schools, or employment settings. I believe this is a greater problem in relation to detecting and protecting our members of society, far greater than blaming Greyhound for an isolated incident; that undoubtly was characteristic of "this man" for some time, which no one detected prior.

Forensic Psychologists and researchers both in Canada and in the United States study these anomilies in behavior and personality. There studies assit the Criminal Justice System (CJS) in understanding mental processes as the (CJS) applies the laws that are enacted to help protect its citizens.

This case will undoubtedly be greatly researched by Forensic Psychologists and Psychiatrists in conjunction with law members to determine what can be said and done of a person who commits such a crime (from precipitating factors to proactive measures in ablating such behaviors).

My heartfelt sorrow goes to the parents of the victim and the trauma the viewers undoubtedly continue to experience.

Submitted by helen571 on Tue, 08/05/2008 - 11:18
 

The Bus Rolls On

First off some people have criticized the passengers for being cowards.  I don't think that's fair, your talking about confused people. Not to mention when the driver tells you to get off the bus you get off the bus, especially if you don't know what's going on.

 

Could something have been done? Maybe, but probably not, the only people who had a chance of doing anything were the people surrounding the victim and the killer. What are you going to attack him with though? He has a knife, and more than likely you only have a carry on bag or absolutely nothing.  One person probably wouldn't have stood a chance against this guy unless he knew how to disarm the man with the knife, and considering again there was no time to know who to trust for a banding of strangers I seriously doubt anything could of been done for Tim besides other people getting killed.

 

As for the security question, I don't think much can be done. Deterances wouldn't work for individuals like this.  Short of metal detectors at your bus stations, which doesn't help the rural folks or the passengers who's trip picks up the rural folks. So overall an expensive pacifier.

 

Of course they could also do bag searches, but that would be costly as well if only in the time it would take. Most buses are already running late and need to make up time in the first place.  So no, I don't think anything can really be done.  Besides people securing themselves, paying attention to your surroundings, and making sure to get a seat to yourself if possible. 

Submitted by bbfreak on Fri, 08/01/2008 - 22:03
 

This is such an awful story

I've been noodling on this for a while. Random acts of violence are that - horrible and random, and how do you prevent random?

I would be sad if Canada responded by implementing US-style paranoia based restrictions on travelers. The screenings, the metal detectors, the paperwork, all serve to deter us from travel and do they really stop random acts? 

I have to be honest and say that I can't even read the details of the story, but seriously, is Grayhound now going to take away my pocket knife, too? So I can't peel my apple or slice my cheese when I'm making my bus lunch? 

Random crazy violent guy needed intervention LONG before a lack of security let him on the bus. 

 

 

Nerd's Eye View

Submitted by Pam on Sat, 08/02/2008 - 10:58
 

shocking

Do you want off? It just makes you want to say, "Stop this world, I want off." It is so angering, so shocking, that it is both deafening and silencing at the same time. How can anyone believe that man is basically “good”, when hearing news like this?

Debra J.M. Smith
of
www.InformingChristians.com
Aug. 04, 2008

Submitted by DebraJMSmith on Mon, 08/04/2008 - 15:07