By Canadian Press

List of recent violent attacks on public transit in Canada

Apr 13, 2023 | 12:51 PM

Some cities have increased police presence on public transit after a series of attacks. 

Here is a list of some of the high-profile acts of violence on buses, trains or around transit stops across the country in recent weeks. 

April 13 — Edmonton police say they received a report that a 48-year-old man was stabbed in the back while he was drinking a coffee by himself at a bus stop in the city’s southeast at about 6 a.m. He was taken to hospital with serious injuries. Investigators believe the attack was random.

April 12 — A man was taken to hospital in life-threatening condition and two others were arrested after a shooting on a Calgary Transit bus in the city’s downtown. Officers were called around midday for reports of a fight on a city bus parked in front of the Central Library in the East Village neighbourhood.

April 11 — A teenager was fatally stabbed on a bus in the Vancouver area. Surrey RCMP said the stabbing happened just before 9:30 p.m., when the 17-year-old male victim and his attacker got into some sort of altercation while on the bus, not far from the King George SkyTrain station. A suspect has not been arrested. 

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April 1 — A man was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries after having his throat slashed on a bus in Surrey, B.C. One man, who is now in custody, allegedly took out a knife and slashed the other across the throat before being arrested at the scene by transit police and Surrey RCMP. The victim is recovering at home. 

March 28 — Calgary police say two women were stabbed at the Lions Park light rail transit station during an altercation with several people. Police have said the women involved knew each other. A 31-year-old woman was later charged with aggravated assault and for failure to comply with a court order.

March 25 — A 16-year-old boy was stabbed to death in an unprovoked attack inside a west-end Toronto subway station. A 22-year-old man of no fixed address was later arrested and charged with one count of first-degree murder, police said.

March 15 — Calgary police arrested a man and a woman believed to be responsible for multiple targeted violent attacks at the Anderson light rail transit station. The attacks dated back to Feb. 3 when a man allegedly pointed a shotgun at two people on the station’s platform. A month later, a woman was assaulted on the same platform by a woman who sprayed her with bear spray. Another man and a woman were assaulted later that same day by someone using nunchuks and bear spray in what was believed to be a targeted attack.

March 15 — Police responding to an early-morning disturbance at a light rail transit platform in downtown Calgary found a man and woman with stab wounds. They were transported to hospital in stable condition.

March 10 — An assault involving roughly a dozen youths took place on a Regina city transit bus. Officers say the suspects were no longer at the scene when they arrived and that a woman was treated for minor physical injuries in hospital.

Jan. 23 — Four 13-year-old boys were charged with assault after they allegedly attacked two uniformed Toronto Transit Commission employees who were on their way to work by bus. Police said there was an altercation between a group of boys on the bus before the alleged assaults.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 13, 2023.

The Canadian Press