A woman who was stabbed in the neck aboard a subway train in Los Angeles early on April 22 died of her injuries, the Los Angeles Police Department reported.
The victim, a woman in her mid-50s, was a passenger aboard Metropolitan Transit Authority’s B-Line around 5 a.m. when a suspect stabbed her; she then exited the train and officers located her on the Universal/Studio City platform, police said.
Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics responded and took the victim to a local hospital, where she was pronounced dead. A suspect was apprehended and is in police custody.
The brutal attack comes just days after a string of violent assaults aboard Metro buses, including three last week.
On April 13, a suspect punched a bus driver with brass knuckles and stabbed him in the chest before fleeing in the Willowbrook neighborhood of South LA. The victim survived and the suspect is still at large. In two other incidents, an altercation between two passengers left an elderly man with multiple stab wounds aboard a bus in Silverlake, and a suspect kicked in the door of an off-duty bus and assaulted its driver in Santa Monica.
“The attack on a Metro bus operator is horrible and will not be tolerated,” Mayor Karen Bass, who also chairs the Metro Board of Directors, said in a statement regarding last week’s attacks.
Ms. Bass also indicated Metro has stepped up the presence of transit security officers on its bus system as part of a broader safety strategy.
In a statement, the transit authority pointed to “the drug abuse epidemic and untreated mental illness crises” that are fueling many such attacks on transit nationwide.
“The behavior on our system reflects the issues that are seen in the surrounding communities across LA County,” the statement read. Metro also called on county and city partners to help address the same issues “that spill over into our system.”
John M. Ellis, General Chairperson for SMART Transportation Union GO875, which represents 5,000 Metro bus and train operators, called the bus attacks “disgusting” and said he was pushing the county to approve a prototype for protective tempered-glass units that can be welded to the frame of each bus to protect drivers.
Metro train operators are already enclosed in a compartment by themselves, he said, but bus drivers are more vulnerable and exposed.
As are passengers.
In October, Metro opted to expand and make permanent a pilot program that introduced “ambassadors”—unarmed employees that ride the lines and offer navigation help, as well as first-aid services like CPR and naloxone administration to reverse overdoses.
Mr. Ellis also called on Metro to increase its law enforcement presence.
“There are certain situations that maybe an ambassador could handle, but there are some that require law enforcement,” he said.
