UPDATE: Court documents name 23-year-old Tyler Newton as the man charged with second degree murder in the fatal stabbing of a man on a Kelowna city bus on Thursday. He’s due in court today.
UPDATE: Kelowna RCMP announced Saturday that the suspect in the fatal stabbing of a bus passenger has been charged with second-degree murder. According to police he is expected to appear in court Monday.
KELOWNA–RCMP have confirmed they have brought a suspect into custody, in relation to the murder of a man on a city bus Thursday evening.
His name cannot be released until charges have been laid.
It was just before 6:30 p.m. when witnesses say a man getting off the bus stabbed another rider in the neck. The incident happened on the University 8 bus on Baron Road behind Dilworth Centre — off Highway 97.
The Kelowna RCMP were called to the scene and the stabbing victim, a 55-year-old Kelowna man, was rushed to hospital where he later died of his injuries.
READ MORE: What’s the fallout from Thursday’s attack?
After the attack, a number of Global Okanagan viewers took to Facebook to call for changes in the wake of Thursday’s incident.
“Vancouver has Security officers patrolling the bus system, perhaps Kelowna should consider this,” writes Skylar J. Plourde.
“I take the bus a lot and never was comfortable. Now I’m really afraid. Especially since my husband is wheelchair bound. Yes more security, more than one driver, especially after 5 or 6 p.m.,” writes Steph Scovill-Ross.
Premier Christy Clark, who was in Kelowna for a sod turning ceremony on Thursday, said she was shocked to hear the news and it’s obvious that bus security has to be looked at.
“For an incident like this to have happened in Kelowna is shocking. First we need to know what happened here and where there are gaps in our safety system because everyone who takes public transit needs to know they’re safe.”
Les Milton, head of the local transit union, says Thursday’s incident was the first killing on a Kelowna transit bus since its creation in 1977. He likened it to the type of crime which happens in a big city.
“We definitely lost our innocence Thursday night. We always thought we had a special little thing here but last night the big city problems got to us.”
BC transit security on its fleet has been a growing concern.
“Random attacks are almost impossible to prepare for,” says spokesperson Meribeth Burton.
“What we can tell you is we have been for some time looking at the viability of security cameras on buses. We’re planning to go to the market place December 2014 with a roll out in the spring of 2015.”
The investigation in ongoing but police said they believe the attack was random.
~ with files from Kelly Hayes
Comments