Edmonton’s transit union is calling for more safety protections after a teenager allegedly stabbed a bus driver more than a dozen times.
Police say the attack happened around 3:40 a.m. Wednesday morning at a transit centre in the southeast part of the city. They allege a 15-year-old asked the driver for a lift downtown, but when the driver called peace officers to come get the boy, he was attacked and repeatedly stabbed.
The 65-year-old driver was able to get away from the boy, where he called police from a washroom.
The Edmonton Police Service says the teen was at the scene when officers arrived. It’s believed he was trying to steal the bus, but couldn’t figure out how to release the parking brake.
“When EPS arrived the male youth was in the driver's seat of the bus trying to put it in gear,” Acting Insp. James Vanderland with the Edmonton Police Service told CTV Edmonton.
The Amalgamated Transit Union’s local chapter says the driver, who has not been identified, was sent to hospital with 13 stab wounds and has since been released.
Local president Mark Tetterington is calling for the city to station at least two peace officers around the clock at each transit centre.
“I don't care what the cost is,” he said. “Public safety and our operators' safety is paramount.”
Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson told reporters on Wednesday he is open to suggestions when it comes to increasing security on public transit and in transit centres.
The union’s national president says these kinds of attacks are becoming more common.
“We've got a huge systemic problem across this country,” said John di Nino. “We are seeing somewhere upwards of an assault a day on our operators.”
The union says there’ve been 50 assaults on Edmonton bus drivers as of the end of August, compared to 70 all of last year.
With a report from CTV Edmonton’s Bill Fortier
