Last Updated on: 18th July 2013, 03:26 pm
That’s not something you’ll hear me say very often, but I will when I need to, and today I need to.
A while back Iwrotethat airport style security for busses wouldn’t work and was unnecessary. Well, today I would like to officially change that position. Better screening for bus passengers is something we need immediately. I hate saying such a thing, but I see no other way to protect the public from the police and Greyhound employees. Yes, the very people who are supposed to be protecting us.
Details are still pretty sketchy at this point, but what is known is that an unidentified man was stabbed in the chest by another unidentified man on a Greyhound bus traveling through northern Ontario.The victim is expected to survive. The only other thing that’s known is that the attacker was placed on the bus by police, who if I’m reading things right, proceeded to not travel with him. I’m not sure how common that is, but it would be nice if it would become less so. And if that’s not possible, can we at least search these guys before turning them loose? The police know how to check for weapons, and you’d think they’d want to be extra diligent about it before placing somebody from their custody into a bus full of people who can’t exactly run away.
Speaking of running away, that brings me to the driver.
“I heard a shout, someone yelling that someone was having trouble breathing. Then I heard something about a knife,” said Daher.
She called 911, then handed the phone to the Greyhound driver.
About the same time, a young man walked up to the front of the bus, blood dripping from his hands.
The man demanded the bus stop and let him off immediately.
The driver – apparently not aware of exactly what had happened – told him they’d be arriving in White River in a few minutes.
The man wasn’t satisfied, saying “Just open the doors.”
“People at the back were yelling `Don’t let him get away,’ but the driver stopped and let him off,” she said. Police apparently picked him up at the side of the road a short time later.
Ok, I’ve seen some pretty oblivious drivers in my day including the one who fell asleep in the middle of a conversation with the guy he was training as we drove down the highway, but give me a break here! I can understand not being fully aware of a situation, but a guy with blood on his hands trying to get the hell out of Dodge as people are screaming at you and somebody’s handing you a telephone should be ringing a few alarm bells I’d think.
I hope to God that these initial reports are mistaken and that things aren’t as bad as they sound right now. If the situation really was this bad or worse, people need to be fired and everybody else needs to be retrained, bus drivers and police forces alike.