Person stabbed after argument spills out of L.A. Metro bus, police say
A person was stabbed Friday afternoon after getting into an argument with other passengers on a Los Angeles Metro bus in University Park, authorities said.
Police were dispatched to the area of Figueroa Way and Adams Boulevard at around 12:35 p.m. after a reported stabbing, according to Rosario Cervantes, a public information officer for the Los Angeles Police Department.
The Los Angeles Fire Department also responded, and the victim was taken to a hospital. No additional information about the victim was immediately available.
A suspect was taken into custody shortly after the incident, Cervantes said.
Metro declares an emergency amid jump in bus driver assaults and seeks to quickly build barriers to wall drivers off from dangerous passengers.
According to L.A. Metro spokesperson Patrick Chandler, there was an argument between three people on a bus, and the driver stopped to allow them to get off.
“The argument continued on the sidewalk and resulted in an apparent stabbing,†Chandler said in a statement. “The bus is remaining at the scene, since the passengers were witnesses.â€
The stabbing is the latest in a string of violent incidents involving L.A. County Metropolitan Transportation Authority riders in recent weeks. Earlier this month, a bus driver was stabbed in the chest by a passenger. Less than 24 hours earlier, a 70-year-old passenger had been stabbed by another passenger.
And earlier this week, 66-year-old Mirna Soza was fatally stabbed aboard a Metro train by a man who had once been banned from riding the train system.
Elliot Tramel Nowden was charged with murder in the fatal stabbing of Mirna Soza, who was returning home on the train from her night shift as a security guard.
The incidents have forced leaders to grapple with how to ensure safe passage on public transportation. Metro has discussed additional security measures such as creating its own police force, or implementing facial recognition technology and fare gates.
“Our agency has grappled with a very real and unacceptable level of violence, illicit drug use, sales and overdoses, and a blatant disregard for the law, our code of conduct and, quite frankly, basic human decency,†said Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, who sits on the L.A. Metro board. “Until we completely reverse security reality on our system, I’m concerned that we will never come back.â€
Times staff writer Rachel Uranga contributed to this report.
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