Passengers aboard a Canadian bus fled in horror as a fellow traveler viciously attacked his seatmate, repeatedly stabbing him and then severing his head, witnesses said Thursday.
Police said a 40-year-old man was arrested after the attack late Wednesday night aboard a Greyhound bus en route from Edmonton, Alberta, to Winnipeg, Manitoba.
The suspect was captured as he tried to escape from the bus early Thursday, Royal Canadian Mounted Police Sgt. Steve Colwell told reporters.
Authorities declined to provide details. They said a motive hadn’t been determined and refused to identify the suspect or the victim.
But passenger Garnet Caton said the victim, who appeared to be about 19, was sleeping with headphones on when his seatmate suddenly began stabbing him as the bus traveled a desolate stretch of the Trans Canada Highway.
Caton, sitting one seat in front of the two, said he heard no exchanges between them.
“We heard this bloodcurdling scream and turned around, and the guy was standing up, stabbing this guy repeatedly,” Caton said.
Caton said the driver stopped the bus and passengers scrambled off. A short while later, Caton said, he reboarded along with the driver and a trucker who had stopped to see what was happening.
He said the assailant had the victim on the floor of the bus and “was cutting his head off” with a large hunting knife.
“When he was attacking him, he was calm,” said Caton. “There was no rage or, or anything. He was just like a robot.”
The three men quickly left the bus, blocking the door as the attacker slashed at them through an opening.
Greyhound spokeswoman Abby Wambaugh said there had been 37 passengers aboard.
The victim had been on the bus since Edmonton. Caton said the attacker boarded the bus in Brandon, Manitoba.
