Those Crazy Canadians...

[anii]

Be careful where you sit...

Bus passenger beheaded seat mate, witness says
Story Highlights
NEW: Police say suspect in custody, no charges have yet been filed

AP: Witness says attacker seemed normal before slaying, appeared to be about 19

Man repeatedly stabbed, then decapitated sleeping seat mate, witness says

Trucker helped passengers trap knife-wielding man on bus, witnesses say

(CNN) -- As horrified travelers watched, a Greyhound Canada bus passenger repeatedly stabbed and then decapitated a young man who was sitting and sleeping beside him, a witness said Thursday.

"There was a bloodcurdling scream. I was just reading my book, and all of a sudden, I heard it," Garnet Caton, who was sitting in front of the two men, said of the Wednesday night incident west of Portage la Prairie, Manitoba.

"It was like something between a dog howling and a baby crying, I guess you could say," Caton said. "I don't think it will leave me for a while."

Passengers exited the bus, and a trucker who stopped provided wrenches and crowbars to several of them so they could keep the suspect on the bus until police came, witnesses told Canadian TV. After a standoff, police took the man into custody early Saturday.

The names of the victim and the suspect were not immediately released. Caton told The Associated Press the victim appeared to be about 19 years old and had gotten on the bus in Edmonton.

The suspect was in the custody of Royal Canadian Mounted Police on Thursday afternoon, an RCNP spokesman said. The spokesman said no charges had yet been filed.

The bus was traveling along the Trans-Canada Highway from Edmonton, Alberta, to Winnipeg, Manitoba, and was about 45 minutes from its destination when the attack occurred, said Greyhound spokeswoman Abby Wambaugh in Dallas, Texas.

Caton said the victim was sleeping with his head leaning against the window when the attack happened. Caton said he shouted at the other passengers, many of whom also were sleeping, to leave. Watch Caton describe what he saw »

"Everybody got off the bus. Me and a trucker that stopped and the Greyhound driver ran up to the door to maybe see if the guy was still alive or we could help or something like that," Caton said.

"And when we all got up, we saw that the guy was cutting off the guy's head. ... When he saw us, he came back to the front of the bus, told the driver to shut the door. He pressed the button and the door shut, but it didn't shut in time, and the guy was able to get his knife out and take a swipe at us," Caton said.

Caton told the AP that the attacker didn't sit near the victim when he first got on the bus, about an hour before the attack.

"He sat in the front at first, everything was normal," Caton told the AP. "We went to the next stop, and he got off and had a smoke with another young lady there. When he got on the bus again, he came to the back near where I was sitting. He put his bags in the overhead compartment. He didn't say a word to anybody. He seemed totally normal."

Half an hour later, the attack began, Caton told the AP. "There was no rage or anything. He was like a robot, stabbing the guy."

Witnesses told Canadian TV that the attacker was wielding a butcher-type knife.

The incident occurred on the first of two Greyhound Canada buses that were traveling together, Wambaugh said. The bus was carrying 37 passengers. As many passengers as possible among those not directly involved in the incident were transferred to the second bus, she said.

Others were taken to a hotel in Brandon, where they were met by Greyhound managers and police, Wambaugh said.

Once they are released, Greyhound will take them by bus to Winnipeg, and "we will do whatever is required to help them -- and that includes counseling," she added.

Wambaugh declined to comment further.

"I don't want to compromise the investigation," she told CNN.

Copyright 2008 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.

Bus passenger beheaded seat mate, witness says - CNN.com

[Magic Poriferan]

I prefer the Japanese guy that just started stabbing people. It's one thing to go on a killing spree with a gun, but with a knife? Damn.

[pure_mercury]

"Go simple. Go headless. Go Greyhound."

[AllAboutSoul]

^^

[Prototype]

Off with his head... I mean, throw the book at him!

[Little Linguist]

Originally Posted by pure_mercury

"Go simple. Go headless. Go Greyhound."

[heart]

I don't get the humor in someone having their head cutoff. I also don't understand why the thread is titled "Crazy Canadians", as if the subject were a light one and as if one man is representative of a whole country. People go insane and do similar things here in the US.

[Geoff]

Yes, I don't see why it's so hilarious either!

[Little Linguist]

Originally Posted by heart

I don't get the humor in someone having their head cutoff. I also don't understand why the thread is titled "Crazy Canadians", as if the subject were a light one and as if one man is representative of a whole country. People go insane and do similar things here in the US.

It's a psychological defense mechanism BECAUSE they realize that.

[pure_mercury]

Originally Posted by Little Linguist

It's a psychological defense mechanism BECAUSE they realize that.

No, I disagree. I think it's funny because the stereotype of Canadians is that things like this don't happen there, and that the worst violence they have is hockey fights. You're reading WAY too much into it.