Attempted murder charge laid against teen accused of stabbing bus driver

A 15-year-old boy is facing attempted murder and aggravated assault charges in connection with a stabbing attack on a city bus driver earlier this week, police said Thursday.

The 65-year-old victim was at the Mill Woods Transit Centre on Hewes Way in southeast Edmonton when the attack happened at around 3:40 a.m. Wednesday, police said.

The man, who was stabbed up to 13 times, was treated at the scene by paramedics before being taken to hospital suffering serious, but non-life-threatening injuries.

He was released later that day.

The transit attack was the second in just over a week in the city and came after a 19-year-old man was stabbed multiple times in the chest in an unprovoked attack on Sept. 18 at the South Campus LRT station platform.

This week’s attack prompted Mark Tetterington, the president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 569 that represents bus drivers, to call for increased security at transit centres overnight.

“I think the only solution is to have that presence at all those transit centres 24 hours … you have to have that presence, we have to make the buses a safe place not only for our operators, but also for the public,” Tetterington said Wednesday.

“They want to increase ridership, that’s where you start.”

The youth, who cannot be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, is also charged with possession of an offensive weapon dangerous to the public and theft of a motor vehicle.

The city is holding a news conference Friday morning.

“The safety of our operators and passengers is our No. 1 priority,” deputy city manager of city operations Gord Cebryk said in a statement Thursday.

Cebryk will be joined by Insp. Derek McIntyre of the Edmonton Police Service at the news conference.