As horrified travelers watched, a Greyhound Canada bus passenger repeatedly stabbed and then decapitated a young man who was sitting and sleeping beside him, a witness said Thursday.
"There was a bloodcurdling scream. I was just reading my book, and all of a sudden, I heard it," Garnet Caton, who was sitting in front of the two men, said of the Wednesday night incident west of Portage la Prairie in Manitoba.
"It was like something between a dog howling and a baby crying, I guess you could say," Caton said. "I don't think it will leave me for a while."
Passengers exited the bus, and a trucker who stopped provided wrenches and crowbars to several of them so they could keep the suspect on the bus until police came, witnesses told Canadian TV.
The suspect was seized with the help of negotiators, Royal Canadian Mounted Police Sgt. Steve Colwell said.
He said no formal charges had been filed, and he declined to identify either the man in custody or the victim, who were among 34 passengers.
There was no immediate indication of what prompted the attack, Colwell said. He said he didn't know how many times the victim was stabbed. Witnesses described the weapon as a large butcher-type knife.
Caton told The Associated Press that the victim appeared to be about 19 years old and had gotten on the bus in Edmonton.
Colwell praised the "extraordinary" level-headedness and bravery of the bus driver and passengers.
"What you saw and what you experienced would shake the most seasoned police officer. And yet I'm told that each of you acted swiftly, calmly and bravely," Colwell said. "As a result, no one else was injured."
The police received a call reporting the attack at 8:30 p.m. By the time they arrived at the scene, everyone except the knife-wielder and his victim had left the bus, Colwell said. The incident ended about 1:30 a.m.
The bus was traveling along the Trans-Canada Highway from Edmonton, Alberta, to Winnipeg, Manitoba, and was about 45 minutes from its destination when the attack occurred, Greyhound spokeswoman Abby Wambaugh said in Dallas, Texas.
Caton said the victim was sleeping with his head leaning against the window when the attack happened. Caton said he shouted at the other passengers, many of whom also were sleeping, to leave.
"Everybody got off the bus. Me and a trucker that stopped and the Greyhound driver ran up to the door to maybe see if the guy was still alive or we could help or something like that," Caton said.
"And when we all got up, we saw that the guy was cutting off the guy's head. ... When he saw us, he came back to the front of the bus, told the driver to shut the door. He pressed the button and the door shut, but it didn't shut in time, and the guy was able to get his knife out and take a swipe at us," Caton said.
Caton told the AP that the attacker didn't sit near the victim when he first got on the bus, about an hour before the attack.
"He sat in the front at first; everything was normal," Caton said. "We went to the next stop, and he got off and had a smoke with another young lady there. When he got on the bus again, he came to the back near where I was sitting. He put his bags in the overhead compartment. He didn't say a word to anybody. He seemed totally normal."
Half an hour later, the attack began, Caton told the AP. "There was no rage or anything. He was like a robot, stabbing the guy."
The incident occurred on the first of two Greyhound Canada buses that were traveling together, Wambaugh said. The bus was carrying 37 passengers. As many passengers as possible among those not directly involved in the incident were transferred to the second bus, she said.
Others were taken to a hotel in Brandon, where they were met by Greyhound managers and police, Wambaugh said.
Once they are released, Greyhound will take them by bus to Winnipeg, and "we will do whatever is required to help them, and that includes counseling," she added.
Wambaugh declined to comment further. "I don't want to compromise the investigation," she said.
TORONTO (CBS) ― A 40-year-old man who witnesses say stabbed and beheaded his seat mate aboard a Greyhound bus traveling across Canada made his first court appearance Friday on second degree murder charges. Police offered no motive for the savage attack against a man who friends described as an easygoing carnival worker.
Vince Weiguang Li, of Edmonton, Alberta, his feet shackled, shuffled into a courtroom for a procedural hearing in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba with his head bowed. He did not reply when the judge asked him if he was going to get a lawyer, and only nodded slightly when asked whether he was exercising his right not to speak. He was not required to enter a plea.
Li's right hand was tightly bandaged, possibly due to handling the knife he's alleged to have used to attack his victim, reports the Winnipeg Free Press.
The prosecutor asked for a psychiatric assessment, but the judge said he wanted to give Li a chance to meet with his lawyer about that. Li's next court appearance is scheduled for Tuesday.
Authorities have not released the victim's name or other details about Li. They also have not commented on the details of the attack, which occurred Wednesday night as the bus - en route from Edmonton to Winnipeg, Manitoba - traveled a desolate stretch of the TransCanada Highway through the Canadian Prairies.
Friends of the 22-year-old victim, however, identified him as Tim McLean, saying he was headed to Winnipeg after working with the carnival in Edmonton.
William Caron, 23, said his brother was supposed to pick McLean up at the bus depot in Winnipeg. When McLean did not show up, his brothers went to McLean's father's house, where they learned of his murder, he said.
Caron said McLean was quiet, though he liked to socialize with friends. He was small - about 5-foot-4 and 130 pounds - and tried to steer clear of trouble, he said.
"From what I hear, this other guy is three times his size," Caron said. "All the time I've known Tim, he's never been the type of guy to get into a fight with. He always kept to himself when there's strangers around."
Friends started a Facebook group called "R.I.P. Tim" after news of the attack.
"He was a great person, he was kind, thoughtful, and he did not deserve this. I feel for his parents and sisters and his lil bro," Jossiee Kehleer wrote on the site. She called him "a nice, caring guy," in an interview by instant message, but declined to say more.
Witnesses described a grisly murder that occurred as some were napping and others watching "The Legend of Zorro" on the bus's television screens.
Shortly after passengers reboarded the bus following a break, the suspect - for no apparent reason - stabbed the man sitting next to him several dozen times as passengers fled in horror, witnesses said. He then severed the man's head, displayed it and began hacking at the body.
Garnet Caton, who was sitting just one seat in front of the two men, said he did not hear the two speak to each other before the attack.
"We heard this bloodcurdling scream and turned around, and the guy was standing up, stabbing this guy repeatedly," Caton said.
Caton said the driver stopped the bus when he became aware of the attack and passengers raced off. A short while later, Caton said he re-boarded along with the bus driver and a trucker who had stopped to see what was happening.
He said the suspect had the victim on the floor of the bus and "was cutting his head off" with a large hunting knife.
"When he was attacking him, he was calm," said Caton. "There was no rage or anything. He was just like a robot stabbing the guy."
The attacker turned toward them and the three men quickly left the bus, blocking the door as the attacker slashed at them through an opening. Caton said the driver disabled the vehicle after the attacker tried to drive it away.
As the three guarded the door with a crow bar and a hammer, the attacker went back to the body and calmly came to the front of the bus to show off the head, Caton said.
Cody Olmstead, another passenger, said the man "dropped the head and went back and started cutting the body." Olmstead said the man later use the head to taunt police.
Greyhound spokeswoman Abby Wambaugh said there were 37 passengers aboard.
The victim had been on the bus since Edmonton. Caton said the attacker boarded the bus in Brandon, Manitoba, about 80 miles west of Portage La Prairie.
The suspect had been on the bus about an hour and initially did not sit near the victim, Caton said. But he changed seats after a rest stop.
here's a link to some audio from a police scanner about the event
