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A 17-year-old boy was arrested in connection to the stabbing of a Metro bus driver in Woodland Hills.
The teen was arrested following the stabbing of the 61-year-old driver, who was left in “extremely critical” condition after Wednesday evening’s attack, Los Angeles Police department Chief Michel Moore said during a Thursday afternoon news conference. Police did not release the boy’s name because he is a minor.
The attack happened around 5:15 Wednesday near Topanga Canyon Boulevard and Erwin Street. The 61-year-old driver had stopped, and he and the suspect had an argument after the boy had entered the bus, Moore said, adding that the driver was trying to get help.
As they stood outside, the boy “viciously and in an unprovoked manner” stabbed the driver in the chest, neck and back, causing “grievous injuries,” according to the chief. Paramedics rushed the driver to Northridge Hospital.
The teen ran away but was arrested after tips from the public.
Moore called the attack an “anomaly.”
“This type of vicious assault is an anomaly, but it is also one that this department – and I’m happy to report that the MTA – would not have any fashion of explaining away, that instead it’s leaning into to provide any resource to us to ensure it was solved,” he said.
Moore said 1.3 million ride the bus across the region on a daily basis, and that “the vast majority of time, they are safe.”
He noted that an attack such as the one on the bus driver can have a “chilling effect” on people’s sense of safety, but stressed that the LAPD takes bus ridership safety “very seriously.”
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