KELOWNA, B.C. — Passengers and the driver on a transit bus in Kelowna, B.C., looked on in horror as a man fatally stabbed another man then ran from the scene.
RCMP Const. Kris Clark said the incident occurred early Thursday evening and that he couldn't say if the male victim died on the bus or after he was rushed to hospital.
Investigators have yet to release any details about the suspect, he said Friday.
Les Milton, president of the Kelowna local of the Amalgamated Transit Workers union, said it was a rough night for passengers and the bus driver.
The passenger is believed to have been stabbed in the neck when the bus pulled over at a regular stop, Milton said.
BC Transit and its operating company FirstCanada ULC "are deeply saddened by this violent and tragic attack," Transit spokeswoman Maribeth Burton said.
"All 10 passengers who were on the bus were driven home by transit staff after police finished interviewing them, which was over a two-and-a-half-hour period," she said.
"As you might imagine, our operator is off today and he is deeply disturbed by last night's tragedy."
All transit staff in Kelowna have been offered counselling, Burton said, and the company is urging anyone with information to call police.
She said BC Transit hopes to begin installing surveillance cameras on its fleet by next year.
A man who stabbed and beheaded a passenger aboard a Greyhound bus in Manitoba six years ago was later found not criminally responsible due to a mental illness. (The Canadian Press, CKFR)
