Transit driver killed in knife attack on U of M campus

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This article was published 13/02/2017 (2775 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Winnipeg Transit driver was killed early this morning after he was stabbed by the only passenger on his bus at the University of Manitoba campus.

Irvine Jubal Fraser, 58, was rushed to hospital in critical condition but later died, police said.

The attack occurred at about 2 a.m. in the area of Dafoe Road West and Gillson Street.

Witnesses pointed officers led by the canine unit in the direction of the Red River, where a 22-year-old suspect trying to cross to the St. Vital side was arrested and taken into custody.

Following the arrest an officer returned to the river to continue investigating and fell through the ice. Other officers were able to get a rope to him and pulled him out of the water. He was not injured.

Chief Danny Smyth said at a police press conference Tuesday morning that the suspect was the lone passenger on the bus. It is not known how the attack began.

"It is a shocking story any time a public servant is killed while working, whether that’s police, fire or in this instance, a public transit driver," Smyth said. "Our heart goes out to all of the public servants that are out there doing their job every day. We don’t think things like this are going to happen."

 

 

‘A shocking story’

Dave Wardrop, former transit director and the city’s new chief transportation and utilities officer, said the driver’s slaying is unprecedented.

“This is a very difficult day, obviously, for everybody, both at the City of Winnipeg and certainly within Winnipeg Transit,” Wardrop said, adding assaults on public transportation is a problem across North America.

“We know how difficult it is. We encourage everyone to focus on the job at hand, on the service we need to deliver on a daily basis, and continue on.”

Wardrop said transit and the union had considered the installation of protective shields for drivers a few years ago but there was a joint decision not to move ahead.

That option will be revisited, he said.

“We’ll be examining all options and all alternatives going forward… the top priority for me now is look at what we can do to improve safety and security, to work collaboratively with (the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1505) and to ensure the well-being of our employees is in place to the extent it can be.”

Wardrop said there are several emergency and safety features on all transit buses, including emergency alarms and four or five security cameras, depending on the size of the bus.

Wardrop would not say how often trained personnel are riding transit buses as security measures, adding the number would be dependent on available resources and scheduling.

 

‘Terrified right now’

A student in the U of M’s Asper School of Business was rushing to catch the last bus to his home on campus got to the scene shortly after the attack and was still clearly traumatized several hours later.

“I didn’t witness the killing but I saw the body. It was in a pool of blood,” said the international student, who did not want his name published, adding campus security was already at the scene when he arrived.

“For me, I was thinking he’s dead already. My view was to run away, thinking the murderer should be around.

“I went over on the river side and this morning, I heard that the… suspect was caught around there. That’s the way I ran, so I’m terrified right now.”

The student said he doesn’t have a car, so the bus is his only option for getting around. "I don’t feel secure to take it alone now,” he said.

 

Counselling available to students

U of M spokesman John Danakas said the suspect had no apparent association with the school, adding officials have been assured there is not an ongoing safety threat on campus.

"This is a horrible, tragic event," Danakas said. "Winnipeg Transit drivers provide an invaluable service to the University of Manitoba day-in and day-out."

Danakas said services available to students, such as counselling, are outlined on the U of M website.

The University of Manitoba Student Union said it would advocate for a safer campus.

"Student safety is our No. 1 concern," said Tanjit Nagra, UMSU president, who extended her condolences to the driver’s family .

"The incident that occurred last night is extremely terrible," she said. "If anything, this is an indication that our students need to be safe, especially when riding the bus later at night."

 

‘It’s not getting better’

Transit driver Nelson Giesbrecht, a friend of Fraser’s, said he can’t imagine what events led up to the attack. He described Fraser as an easy-going veteran driver who wasn’t concerned about ensuring riders had the proper fare.

"There’s no reason why this should have happened, not at all," he said. "My fellow brother was murdered for doing his job last night."

While driver safety was a priority issue during 2015 collective-bargaining talks, Giesbrecht said the letters exchanged between the union and city hall and the committee formed to study the issue failed.

“I don’t see where it’s gotten us. Now a guy’s dead,” said the 19-year bus driver, adding Fraser’s death has ratcheted up fears.

“How many crazies are out there that I just let on the bus? I don’t know. It’s not getting better.”

 

‘A senseless tragedy’

Paul Thorp, president of ATU Canada, called the slaying in Winnipeg "a senseless tragedy."

"We’re hoping management and the union will discuss new procedures to keep drivers safe… it’s unfortunate something like this has to happen before we talk about keeping people safe."

Thorp said he hopes whatever additional safety measures are implemented in Winnipeg also help transit operators across the country.

"We have countless assaults that happen on a daily basis," he said. Every working person in Canada and the United States expects to go to work not fearing for their lives. We want them to get home safely."

Thorp said the federal government passed an amendment to the Criminal Code in 2015 requiring courts to consider attacks on transit operators an aggravating factor for sentencing, but so far judges haven’t been applying it.

Mayor Brian Bowman said that while bus safety has been an ongoing issue, he said no preventative measures should be taken until the police investigation has been completed.

“We’ll continue to have that conversation but we’ll benefit from having the facts on the table as it relates specifically to this incident,” he told reporters.

 

‘Not part of a trend’

A cross-jurisdictional review of transit safety issues was conducted in 2013, examining measures other transit agencies implemented. That led to the city hiring six safety inspectors to deal with unruly passengers in 2014.

In 2016 the city agreed to deploy an additional unspecified number of uniformed and undercover police officers to ride on routes identified as troublesome.

“It’s obviously a very disturbing incident but it’s not part of a trend,” St. Vital Coun. Brian Mayes, an advocate of greater bus safety, said after Tuesday’s attack. “We have been looking at this issue. We have taken some concrete action… but maybe it’s time to take another review.”

 

Reported assaults on Winnipeg Transit drivers went up from 54 per cent from 2014 to 2015 — to 60 attacks from 39, the union local reported previously. Some assaults were verbal but others were serious attacks. Two-thirds revolved around fare disputes.

The violent incidents are up from a decade ago. In 2005, there were just 17 reported assaults, and that was consistent for the previous five years.

But John Callahan, Local 1505 ATU president, said the putting uniformed and plainclothes officers on buses has had a significant impact on safety. The number of reported assaults dropped to 45 in 2016.

"It’s definitely made a difference," he said. "We’ve had reports from our membership of almost three dozen police interventions that could have escalated into assaults."

written by: Ashley Prest, Mike McIntyre, Bill Redekop, Aldo Santin, Boris Minkevich, Mia Rabson, Kevin Rollason and Scott Emmerson.