Man decapitated on Greyhound bus near Manitoba, suspect in custody
A 40-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly stabbing and decapitating a fellow passenger on a Greyhound bus near Portage La Prairie, Manitoba, Canada on Wednesday night.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police have issued a statement confirming that a homicide took place aboard the bus. A suspect is in custody.
Canadian Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day described the attack as “horrific” according to AFP and “probably one-of-a-kind in Canadian history” according to the Canadian Press.
The victim, while not identified by the RCMP, has been described to be 18-years-old and traveling from Winnipeg to Edmonton, where the victim lived, CBC News reported. Two witnesses described the attack to CBC News: Garnet Caton, who was sitting in the seat in front of the victim, and Cody Olmstead, who smoked a cigarette with the victim earlier in the trip.
“He must have stabbed him 50 times or 60 times,” Caton told CBC News.
“Like, just everywhere, arms, legs, neck, chest, guts, wherever he could swing it, he got it,” Olmstead told CBC News.
Caton and Olmstead said that the other passengers fled. When the bus driver, a passing trucker, and Caton returned to check on the victim, Caton noticed the victim’s head was gone. Caton said the alleged attacker then chased them off the bus. CBC News reported that the alleged attacker tried to drive the bus away from the scene, but the drive disabled the engine. Witnesses have said the alleged attacker then paraded the removed head from a bus window.
“While we were watching the door, he calmly walks up to the front 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 told CBC News.
“The guy came to the front of the door with buddy’s head in his hands, decapitated. He dropped the head and went back and started cutting the body back up,” Olmstead told the Canadian Press. RCMP arrested the suspect about 1:30 in the morning after a three-hour standoff. As of about 3:00 p.m. Thursday, the Canadian Press reported that the RCMP has not yet questioned the subject and no charges have been filed.
The following statement was published by Staff Sgt Steve Colwell on the RCMP website:
On the evening of July 30, 2008, at approximately 8:30 p.m. (local time), Portage La Prairie RCMP were advised that a male subject had been stabbed on a Greyhound bus traveling eastbound on Highway #1 (Trans Canada Highway) approximately 20 kms West of Portage la Prairie, Manitoba.
• RCMP officers immediately attended the scene and secured the bus, which was parked on the side of the highway. At this time victim and the suspect were still inside the bus. The driver and the remainder of the passengers had safely exited the bus prior to police arrival.
• Attending RCMP officers observed the suspect walking around the inside of the bus. When attempts to have the suspect exit the bus and surrender to police proved to be unsuccessful, additional resources, including the RCMP “D†Division Emergency Response Team (ERT) and a Negotiator Team were called in to assist.
• The highway was closed in both directions to ensure the safety of first responders, the other bus passengers and driver.
• At 1:28 a.m., the suspect, a 40 year old male, believed to be from out of province, broke a window and jumped out of the bus. He was immediately subdued and arrested without incident. He is currently in RCMP custody. His identity will not being released at this time.
• The victim was pronounced deceased at the scene. His identity will also not be released at this time, pending notification of next of kin.
• The other passengers and the bus driver (35 people in total) were transported to Brandon, Manitoba where they were interviewed by police. They were also provided with food and lodging and crisis support services. They have now all been transported to their original destinations, or alternate destinations of their choice, by Greyhound.
Update: The suspect in the crime has been identified as Vince Weiguang Li.
Vince Weiguang LI, 40 years of age, of Edmonton, Alberta has been arrested and charged with second degree murder. The accused appeared in Provincial Court of Manitoba in Portage la Prairie on August 1, 2008, and has been remanded into custody until August 5th, 2008.
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