Man stabbed, beheaded on bus in Manitoba

[hermite]

This is tooo bizarre. Can you imagine being on the bus? Nightmares forever.

BRANDON, MAN. — A young man travelling on a Greyhound bus was stabbed to death and beheaded by a stranger in a horrifying act of apparently random violence.The incident occurred on a bus travelling from Edmonton to Winnipeg just before 10 pm Wednesday. A man of about 18 years old who was sleeping with headphones on was suddenly attacked by his seat mate, according to the man who sat directly in front of them.He was stabbed repeatedly with a large hunting knife, sending blood spraying across the interior of the bus. The driver quickly pulled over and passengers fled out the front door.
The man then sawed off the victim's head and carried it to the front of the bus.
The two did not apparently know one another. The victim boarded the bus in Edmonton, one witness said, and the attacker boarded in Manitoba. A standoff with police ensued until about 1 a.m. local time. One man was taken into custody.

Garnet Caton, 26, was sitting in the seat in front of the attacker."I was just reading a book and all of a sudden I heard a guy screaming. I turned around and the guy sitting right beside me was standing up and stabbing another guy with a big Rambo knife," he said."Right in the throat. Repeatedly."
The man wielding the knife had a shaved head and was wearing sunglasses, he said."He looked totally calm. He didn't say a word I don't think to anybody on the bus ... nothing. Just totally calm."
"I screamed 'stop the bus!' ... Everybody got the hell off, and people at the front of the bus didn't really understand what was going on. It almost turned into a trample scene there, everybody trying to get off the bus. But the guy didn't care at all. He wasn't concerned with anybody but the guy he was stabbing."The guy was totally calm. When he brought the head he looked at us and dropped it. It was like he was having a day at the beach. He couldn't be bothered by anything else."
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080731.wmanbus0731/BNStory/National/home

 

[Kreskin]

Holy cow, what a nightmare.

Here's a video report link as well.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/serv...080731.wvbus0731&ids=RTGAM.20080731.wvbus0731

 

[Praxius]

Guess he had enough of the guys crappy music. Who knows what will set someone off.

I heard a little bit of this when waking up to the radio. Should be interesting to see what he has to say about his actions.

 

[Unforgiven]

What a thing to have happen. Condolences to the family of the victim and kudos to the brave guy who took charge and kept things from getting worse.

 

[EagleSmack]

At least he didn't use a GUN...THAT would have been worse! ;-)

 

[Praxius]

At least he didn't use a GUN...THAT would have been worse! ;-)

Indeed, he could have missed and hit some other innocent person.

Added:

I forgot to mention.... Heads Up!

 

[EagleSmack]

I guess this guy falls under the

"Not so" Polite Canadian. :lol:

Too bad someone DIDN'T have a gun to stop this guy. As we all know you don't bring a knife to a gunfight and knives are less dangerous.

 

[Praxius]

I guess this guy falls under the

"Not so" Polite Canadian. :lol:

Too bad someone DIDN'T have a gun to stop this guy. As we all know you don't bring a knife to a gunfight and knives are less dangerous.

But if it's a knife fight, why bring a gun? That defeats the whole purpose of a knife fight and ruins the fun.

But in related news:

Man decapitates passenger aboard Greyhound bus in Manitoba: witness
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/07/31/greyhound-transcanada.html

A passenger repeatedly stabbed and then decapitated another person aboard a Greyhound bus travelling through Manitoba overnight, a witness said Thursday.

Police would not confirm the reports, only saying that a "major incident" took place around 9 p.m. Wednesday evening in the bus as it drove along the Trans-Canada Highway west of Portage la Prairie en route to Winnipeg from Edmonton.

The killing took place on the Trans-Canada about 18 kilometres west of Portage la Prairie, a city about 85 kilometres west of Winnipeg. A man is in police custody.

Passenger Garnet Caton told CBC News on Thursday that the attacker had been sitting beside the victim, who was sleeping with his headphones on.

Caton said he heard a "blood-curdling scream" and saw the man holding a large "Rambo" hunting knife above the victim, "continually stabbing him in the chest area," he said.

"He must have stabbed him 50 times or 60 times," said Caton.

About 37 panicked passengers and the bus driver fled the bus. "The whole time, the attacker was over top of the victim. He is continually cutting him. I think the victim was gone at that point," Caton said.

Caton said the attacker appeared "totally normal" earlier in the journey after boarding around Brandon, and chatted with a young lady as he smoked a cigarette during a break.

But when he got back on the bus, he moved his belongings from the front to a seat beside the victim in the back and about 20 minutes later began attacking the man, said Caton. "He didn't say anything to the victim at all," said Caton.

Once the bus pulled over and passengers fled, Caton, the driver and a trucker who stopped at the scene boarded the vehicle to see if the victim was still alive.

"When we came back on the bus, it was visible at the end of the bus he was cutting the guy's head off and pretty much gutting him up," said Caton.

The attacker ran at them, Caton said, and they ran out of the bus, holding the door shut as he tried to slash at the trio.

When the attacker began fiddling with buttons and trying to drive the bus, Caton says the driver disabled the vehicle.

"While we were watching the door, he calmly walks up to the front with the head in his hand and the knife and just calmly stares at us and drops the head right in front of us," said Caton.

Caton described the attacker as surprisingly calm. "It was like he was at the beach or something. There was no rage in him. He wasn't swearing or cursing or anything. It was just like he was a robot or something."

Police cruisers arrived about 10 minutes later, he estimates, and began directing passengers to school buses to take them to a hotel in Brandon. The attacker picked up the head.

"While we were waiting on the side of the road, he was taunting the police with the head in his hand," said Caton.

A six-year-old and other children were among the passengers who saw the gruesome incident unfold, said Caton.

"It was pretty traumatic," he said, adding that some passengers said they have been unable to sleep or eat since it happened.

A chaplain and crisis team were on hand to counsel passengers at the hotel, he said.

Officers were still at the scene early Thursday morning and brought portable search lights to examine the bus, the CBC's Sean Kavanagh reported. Traffic was being rerouted to a side road.

Abby Wambaugh, media relations spokeswoman for Greyhound Canada, said there were 37 passengers and a driver aboard the bus.

She would not comment on what happened on the bus.

"I don't want to compromise the investigation, so any details need to be confirmed by the police," she said.

Sounds more like another one of those situations where someone just no longer cared about anything.

 

[Praxius]

Additional Information:

RCMP officers investigate a 'major incident' that occured on a Greyhound bus about 18km west of Portage La Prairie, Manitoba on Thursday morning, July 31, 2008.

Officers speak with witnesses outside of a Greyhound bus where a gruesome murder took place during a trip from Edmonton to Winnipeg late Wednesday, July 30, 2008.

As the tail lights of another vehicle stream by, an RCMP officer investigates a 'major incident' that occured on a Greyhound bus about 18km west of Portage La Prairie, Manitoba on Thursday morning, July 31, 2008.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080731/Manitoba_bus_080731/20080731?hub=Canada

A young man travelling on a Greyhound bus bound for Winnipeg late Wednesday was stabbed to death and then decapitated in what appears to be a random act of violence, witnesses said.

According to passengers on the bus, the victim, between the ages of 18 to 20, was sleeping with his head against the window when the attack occurred.

"He was listening to music when suddenly the person next to him began to stab him in the neck with... a large butcher knife," CTV's Murray Oliver reported Thursday from Winnipeg, Man.

Garnet Caton, who was sitting in front of the victim, heard the commotion and turned around thinking he was going to witness a fight.

Caton told CTV News that once he realized what was going on he screamed: "Stop the bus, somebody's getting stabbed, everyone get the hell off."

The bus driver pulled over on a section of the east-bound Trans-Canada Highway -- about 15 kilometres west of Portage la Prairie, Man -- and many of the 37 passengers began to flee the bus.

Canton gathered a small group of people to go back and help the victim, said Oliver.

"They returned to the back of the bus to find that the person who was stabbing the person in the neck had now sawed off the head of (the victim)."

The man, with the head in one hand and the butcher knife in the other, then tried to attack the other passengers, said Oliver.

The group was able to exit the bus and slammed the door behind them.

The man then stabbed the door with his knife but was unable to break through and get off the bus. Eventually, he attempted to start up the bus to drive away but the operator had hit a switch, disabling the vehicle.

Oliver said a truck driver then arrived at the scene and handed out wrenches and crowbars to several men. The small group gathered around the door to the bus and prevented the man from exiting until police arrived.

RCMP eventually arrested the man after a standoff lasting several hours, said Oliver.

Witnesses said the suspect was tall, large and wearing sunglasses, even though it was dark.

The bus was travelling from Edmonton to Winnipeg.

The RCMP and Greyhound officials have confirmed that a "major incident" took place on the bus but few details have officially been released.

So there's conflicting witness statements where the victim was either being stabbed in the chest or stabbed in the neck before being gutted and beheaded.

 

[Lester]

The dirty bastard- I feel for those kids who had to see that.

 

[#juan]

That is without a doubt the worst public incident I've heard of. God, there were children on that bus who witnessed at least some of it. I wonder if it will turn out that the victim is one part of some kind of deadly love triangle or just a hapless victim of random violence by a nutcase.

 

[Praxius]

That is without a doubt the worst public incident I've heard of. God, there were children on that bus who witnessed at least some of it. I wonder if it will turn out that the victim is one part of some kind of deadly love triangle or just a hapless victim of random violence by a nutcase.

Not too sure at this time.... I'd just have to say the guy lost his mind.

But to recap what Eagle mentioned earlier:

"At least he didn't use a GUN...THAT would have been worse!"

and to relate that to this mentioned in the report:

"They returned to the back of the bus to find that the person who was stabbing the person in the neck had now sawed off the head of (the victim)."

The man, with the head in one hand and the butcher knife in the other, then tried to attack the other passengers, said Oliver.

The group was able to exit the bus and slammed the door behind them.

The man then stabbed the door with his knife but was unable to break through and get off the bus. Eventually, he attempted to start up the bus to drive away but the operator had hit a switch, disabling the vehicle."

^ Technically speaking, if the guy had a firearm, rather then a knife, the chances of others being injured and/or killed would have been a lot more then they were, as the people were able to keep their distance from the attacker and lock him in the bus until police arrived.

If he had a firearm, he could have shot out or through the windows at the other people or the police, while with just the knife, he was easily contained.

 

[karrie]

I'm speechless. Those poor passengers, his poor family. My gawd.

 

[lone wolf]

They walk among us. We may even talk with one every day. You just never know until the mask comes off....

 

[#juan]

^ Technically speaking, if the guy had a firearm, rather then a knife, the chances of others being injured and/or killed would have been a lot more then they were, as the people were able to keep their distance from the attacker and lock him in the bus until police arrived.

If he had a firearm, he could have shot out or through the windows at the other people or the police, while with just the knife, he was easily contained.

You are right without a doubt. What struck me as odd was that the nut obviously never watched the bus driver open the door. Usually, only the driver opens the door with that big lever handle but anybody could have used it. I don't know if all Greyhound busses have that lever thing but I know some of them do.

 

[talloola]

Horrible, just horrible. If this incident had the name 'bagdad' beside it, we wouldn't
even flinch, but something like this in our country is really scary.

I can't imagine what his family must be going through right now.

The murdurer will hide under some 'insane' at the time of the crime policy, and nothing
much will happen to him, just off to some comfortable institution, with 3 good meals
a day, and all the recreation he wants, books, tv, computer, etc., but that poor man
is dead, and his family and friends will think about this all of their lives, just like the
families of the kids killed by Cliffered Olsen, who are still being taunted and tormented by
this man to this day, as I learned from the CKNW talk show the other day, but, another
thread for this one.

 

[Praxius]

They walk among us. We may even talk with one every day. You just never know until the mask comes off....

That's the problem as I see it currently..... this sort of thing can happen to just about any human on the planet.... depending on surrounding circumstances.

Take Chris Benoit for example..... everybody that knew him said he was the greatest and one of the most generous guys around.... he adored his son, and nobody could ever imagine he would have ended up doing what he did. But with years of drug abuse, major blows to his head, esspecially from his turnbuckle-head smash move, and the death of his closest friend shortly before all this happened..... his brain went screwy and he killed his wife, son, and himself in the end. It first was attributed to Roid Rage, but after further examination of his brain, there was so much damage from untreated concussions and the sort, that he had the brain of an 85 year old.... so they say. He was eventually cleared as not being criminally responsible for the deaths due to this.

^ They actually had this whole thing on last night on the Fifth Estate. I remember the news, I remember the claim of Roid Rage, and just heard tid bits of the brain tests until last night.

The other aspect that might come into play, might not be physical damage to the brain, but years of certain types of mental conditioning.... something happened in this guys life to make him hit the point that he hit that night...... in what appears to me as a case of someone who lost all care of his safety and the safety of others around him.... as he didn't care about the people around him, he didn't care if he killed them in his run at them after killing this guy, and he taunted the police with the head for a few hours......

To me, this is what happens when someone abandons all their cares except for the suffering they want others to feel, both physically and mentally.

 

[lone wolf]

You are right without a doubt. What struck me as odd was that the nut obviously never watched the bus driver open the door. Usually, only the driver opens the door with that big lever handle but anybody could have used it. I don't know if all Greyhound busses have that lever thing but I know some of them do.

Target fixation? The scarey part is habitually late and overcrowded busses are enough to test the most placid person. A control nut off the meds and with a hate on for the world? Pity there's not enough space at the door for metal detection.

 

[Praxius]

You are right without a doubt. What struck me as odd was that the nut obviously never watched the bus driver open the door. Usually, only the driver opens the door with that big lever handle but anybody could have used it. I don't know if all Greyhound busses have that lever thing but I know some of them do.

Not sure about the Greyhounds, but the buses in Halifax (Metro Transit) as well as the Acadien Lines all have a button now. And if the Bus Driver locked the bus so nobody else could operate it, to me that sounds like an emergency system for such a situation or a hi-jacking, etc. I've heard of other cases where someone was locked on a bus, because the bus driver shut it down on them.

Of course, if they were thinking, they'd know about the emergency exits.

 

[#juan]

Quoting Praxius

They actually had this whole thing on last night on the Fifth Estate. I remember the news, I remember the claim of Roid Rage, and just heard tid bits of the brain tests until last night.

I think you mean Road Rage. Roid Rage is a killing anger brought on by having Piles......;-):smile: