WINNIPEG — The final actions of a young man stabbed and decapitated on a Greyhound bus in Manitoba are being credited with saving the lives of fellow passengers.
Stephen Allison, 19, was sitting across the aisle from Vincent Weiguang Li when he allegedly attacked Tim McLean near Portage la Prairie on July 30.
Allison called McLean a hero.
“If it wasn’t for what he did, there would have been more that didn’t get off that bus," said Allison, who is from Fort Smith, N.W.T.
He said McLean tried to get away from the suspect and attempted to fight him off after receiving at least two devastating stab wounds.
“When Tim fought back, he gave us all time to get off the bus," Allison said. “He was asleep initially, but then he jumped over (the suspect) and tried to fight ... it was a last attempt (to save his own life)."
Allison said that last-ditch move landed McLean in the aisle, where the suspect allegedly continued his brutal attack with a 15-centimetre, doubleedged hunting knife.
Allison ran to the front of the bus to tell the driver to pull over, then returned to the rear to reach his wife, Isabelle, who was still near the horrifying scene.
“By the time I got back, (McLean) wasn’t moving."
Allison said he believed he and the other 35 people on the bus were also in danger.
He said witnessing the grisly murder has had a terrible impact on his life, even prompting him to steer away from an education in criminal justice this fall for one in environmental sciences.
Li, 40, has been charged with seconddegree murder. His next court appearance is set for Sept. 8.
