Not for the timid

July 31, 2008
Horror on Canadian Bus as Man Beheaded
By REUTERS

Filed at 5:12 p.m. ET

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters) - A man sleeping on a Greyhound bus as it rolled across the Canadian Prairies was killed and decapitated by his seatmate as horrified passengers fled to safety in the night, witnesses and police said on Thursday.

"All of a sudden, we all heard this scream, this bloodcurdling scream," said Garnet Caton, who was sitting just in front of the victim on the bus. Caton said that when the attack was over, the knife-wielding killer displayed his victim's severed head to the onlookers.

A 40-year-old man was taken into custody at the scene on Wednesday evening on a desolate stretch of the TransCanada Highway about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, but has not been charged, according to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Police declined to speculate on what prompted the attack, and witnesses said the victim and killer, who apparently did not know each other, had enjoyed a casual cigarette break with other passengers only minutes before the attack.

Witnesses described a scene of bloody mayhem that erupted without warning on the bus, which was traveling east to Winnipeg, Manitoba, on a routine scheduled run.

"The attacker was standing up right over top of the guy with a large hunting knife -- a survival, Rambo knife -- holding the guy and continually stabbing him, stabbing him, stabbing him in the chest area," Caton told CBC Television.

The attack continued as other passengers fled the bus and waited for police, Caton said. He said he, the driver and another passenger desperately tried to hold the bus door closed to prevent the attacker from leaving.

"He calmly walks up to the front (of the bus) with the head in his hand and the knife and just calmly stares at us and drops the head right in front of us," Caton said.

"There was no rage in him ... It was just like he was a robot or something."

Police praised the calmness and cooperation of the passengers, who were taken to a hotel in Brandon, Manitoba, and were being given crisis counseling and other assistance by authorities and Greyhound.

"Believe me, if we could do our jobs without having you relive this terrible experience we would," RCMP staff Sargent Steve Colwell said in a statement to the passengers that was read to reporters in Winnipeg.

Passengers said they were having difficulty coping.

"I tried to get to lay down at 4 o'clock this morning but was up 10 minutes later because every time I closed my eyes I'd see this man in the window with some guy's head I had just smoked a cigarette with," Cody Omstead told CTV News.

Greyhound said in a statement that it was cooperating with police to determine what happened. It said that intercity bus travel remained the safest mode of transportation in the country.



(Reporting by Roberta Rampton, Allan Dowd. Writing Allan Dowd. Editing by Peter Galloway)

OMG!!!!!!!!!!

I saw that yesterday on the Morning news. Its Sad, really sad.

There was a six year old boy on the bus also, so I read. What horror!

Thank you for posting 59pearly.

Canada - is no different from the USA.

Lunatics abound as does wildlife. In my realm, I tend more to the wildlife - that being animals that were here long before any white man; let alone me.

wow

How absolutely sad, and totally depressing. Some people, my gosh, they are so sick.

..and, that would be world wide...

sadly true. what is happening to people?

BR was telling me about this yesterday.

Very freaky. But you never know..

years ago a friend of mine was on a bus to florida with her kids. They were several hours out, and a guy went into the toilet stall and shot himself in the head.

The took everyone off and they stood at the side of the road for hours ... until another bus arrived. Terrible.

I would have thought they'd check you for guns and hunting knives. I mean, I know you can still attack and kill someone with just your bare hands or a pocket knife, and I know that they don't have the budget for security. But I figured they'd try. Since you don't have carry on luggage, it wouldn't be too hard. Maybe it's just too time consuming.

What a shocking story!
My friends just went from New Orleans to Spokane on Greyhound. They say there are no security checks of any kind. Not on the baggage you check, nor the carry on.

You know, for years I was against the death penalty. But what on earth could a person like this contribute to society?

Here is a link for more on the story. The killer has been charged with second degree murder:
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=c2e_1217531771

59pearly wrote:You know, for years I was against the death penalty. But what on earth could a person like this contribute to society?

Here is a link for more on the story. The killer has been charged with second degree murder:
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=c2e_1217531771

I've always been for the death penalty, but not just for the reasons most people give. I doubt it's a deterent, and while it may or may not save the state money I would never let cost figure into it. For me, there are two reasons. First, some people are so dangerous that I could never accept the risk of them being free again. And second, some types of crime seem to be incurable. There is no known way to treat a true sociopath. And I sometimes wonder if the death penalty might be more humane than 50 or 75 years of life in America's prison system. There is so much abuse in prisons and just for myself, I think I'd rather just die and get it over with rather than suffer endlessly. But I'm sure there are plenty who would choose to live, so that's not a valid comparison. Mainly, I just think that some people are so damaged that you cannot fix them, and the risk of them being alive is too great.

Being from Manitoba I know people who knew the victim this is a truly sad time.

Aundrea, it seems like he was a quiet guy. But still it didn't matter because they say he didn't even talk to the lunatic and did nothing to provoke the situation. I feel for his family and friends. What pictures they must have of his last moments. The article says the passengers will get counseling and compensation.

With the intelligence of DNA, many folks are now free of crimes they did not commit. I believe the biggest crime commited was when the white man walked on native american soil and crossed the Bering Strait. In my province, of British Columbia - I grew up - knowing native indian children were taken from their parents, their land flooded for a dam. They were sent to residential schools and abused.

Sometimes, I do not get the drift of the white man, in fact, sometimes - I do not want to.

Residing on the side of the mountain is a great learning experience - for life.

It's an awful story! And the poor passengers having to stay in Brandon! Hopefully they get to their destinations soon.

OMG-- i do not really know what to say. I told Tim about this and he is baffled by the whole story. We usually watch the news more than anything else and I am surprised that we have not heard about it.

What I don't understand is how those people could have run away and juts did nothing. Canada doesn't have concealed handgun laws do they? In the US someone would have busted one off in that guy and it would have been over with.
There are nuts all over, and if people don't protect themselves it's just gonna get worse.

Someone on another board asked the same question. I think I read in one of the news stories that the guy was slashing at other people too. This just baffles me. Was it drugs that made him do it and in such a calm unfeeling way? Was he simply crazy? Did I hear he was also eating the young man? I'm going back to look for updates but I think I heard that on the news this morning or last night.

Yep, he started eating the flesh right in front of the other passengers. Horrors upon horrors! I know I love horror movies but have sense enough to know it is fiction. Really not wanting it to be real life...

Thta's just sick, sick sick sick. I feel so sorry for that boy's family. I cannot imagine someone being killed like that.