XPost: alt.los-angeles, alt.society.liberalism, soc.culture.african.american XPost: talk.politics.guns

A woman was fatally stabbed while leaving a Metro train Monday morning, according to authorities.

The passenger, a woman in her 50s, was stabbed in the throat and found by police at the Universal City station in the 3900 block of Lankershim
Boulevard shortly after 5 a.m., according to Los Angeles Police Officer
Drake Madison. The station serves the B Line (formerly the Red Line)
trains that run from Union Station to North Hollywood.

The Los Angeles Fire Department received a call from a passerby at 4:59
a.m. who reported seeing a “person down,” department spokesperson Brian Humphrey said.

As firefighters were on their way, dispatchers received several other
calls from people who said they believed the victim was bleeding, but none
of the callers was willing to get close enough to confirm anything about
her condition, Humphrey said.

The woman was taken to a hospital, where she died from her injuries,
Madison said.

In a statement, Metro said the woman was stabbed as she was getting off
the train and security personnel rendered aid until paramedics arrived.

“Metro extends its condolences to her family and friends,” the statement
said.

A suspect was taken into custody by Los Angeles Police Department officers
in the area of the Universal City station, LAPD Capt. Kelly Muniz said.

The suspect ran out of the train, but officers found him nearby, Muniz
said. Police released no additional information about the suspect.

Train service to the station was interrupted Monday morning, but resumed
by the afternoon.

Monday’s stabbing fell on Earth Day, when all rides aboard Metro’s trains
and buses are free. Access to the train was unfettered and available to
all. Police say the suspect was unknown to officers in the North Hollywood Division.

The stabbing also follows a steady increase in violent crimes on Metro
trains in recent years. Homicides, aggravated assaults and robberies
increased from 2019 through 2023, according to Metro’s year-end summary.
There was a sharp increase in a separate category of crimes that include battery, vandalism, use of narcotics and sex offenses aboard Metro’s
trains over the same period.

There were no homicides on Metro trains in 2019, but there were three in
2020; five each in 2021 and 2022; and six in 2023, according to Metro’s
data. In December 2023, the B Line saw an 18% increase in total crime
compared with the previous month, with an increase in aggravated assaults, robberies and larcenies.

Metro estimates 5.7 million riders traveled by train in March, up from
roughly 5.1 million rail riders in February.

Anyone with information about the stabbing can contact the Los Angeles
Regional Crime Stoppers Hotline at (800) 222-TIPS, or (800) 222-8477.

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-04-22/fatal-metro-stabbing- universal-city

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)