Man Beheaded Aboard Greyhound Bus Near Winnipeg

This is very, very upsetting.

I have just read an extremely disturbing story on www.cbcnews.ca.

A young man was murdered late last night on a Greyhound Bus travelling between Edmonton and Winnipeg. This young man, who has yet to be identified, was estimated to be between 18 to 20 years old and was wearing his headphones when suddenly another passenger began stabbing him repeatedly.

The man was stabbed between 50 to 60 times. The rest of the passengers, including young children, evacuated the bus. Three passengers went back into to check in on the victim who had just been beheaded. The assailant began swinging his knife at the three men before dropping the head in front of them. The assailant attempted to drive the bus away but the driver fortunately had disabled the bus. The murder took place west of Portage la Prairie, Manitoba.

The assailant has been arrested and the RCMP is expected to make a statement later this afternoon. It appears to be have been a random act.

When I travel I usually do so by bus. So this has me just a bit spooked. I realize this could have happened just as easily on a train or plane. But given the sudden nature of the attack and the anonymous nature of buses I might be a little more aware of my surroundings the next time I board a Greyhound.

It remains to be seen whether the Canadian government will take steps to improve security measures aboard Greyhound but they should strongly consider it. This is not the first time there has been an attack aboard a Greyhound Canada bus although this is without question the most serious incident.

In 2000, a pregnant woman was attacked on a Greyhound Bus in London, Ontario. Later that year, a man tried to take control of a Greyhound Bus outside my hometown of Thunder Bay, Ontario. The bus flipped on its side into a ditch which would later result in the death of a female passenger. There were also two incidents last year. One where a group of youths beat a bus driver in Lloydminster, Alberta and another where a passenger was stabbed near Tweed, Ontario. That would probably have been an Ottawa-Toronto bus. I used to travel by bus from Ottawa to Toronto and we would have our rest stop in Tweed.

But for the grace of G-d....