Los Angeles police are searching for a man suspected of stabbing and wounding another man during a confrontation aboard a Metro bus Saturday on the city’s south side.
Officers responded about 4 p.m. to a report of an assault on a Line 204 bus near Vermont Avenue and 29th Street, the LAPD told KCAL-TV.
They found a 50-year-old man, who hasn’t been identified, suffering from apparent stab wounds that were considered non-life threatening. Police said the suspect had fled the scene on foot before they arrived; he was described as a man in his 30s who was last seen wearing a blue jacket and blue pants.
No details about what precipitated the incident were released. Metro officials told KCAL-TV in a statement that the attack occurred during an altercation between two passengers aboard a northbound 204 bus.
“Metro extends its wishes for a speedy recovery to the victim and thanks LAPD and LAFD for their quick response,” the statement read.
The stabbing is the second this month on the Metro system. On Sept. 3, a passenger was hospitalized in grave condition after being stabbed three times in the neck on a G Line bus in North Hollywood.
Despite several high-profile incidents, Metro statistics show that aggravated assaults on the transit system decreased from 210 last year to 197 this year. Simple batteries and attacks on Metro operators are also down year over year. The decline was as of June, the most recent month for which complete data was available.
In May, Metro hired Bill Scott, a veteran of the LAPD and San Francisco police, as chief of the agency’s new in-house police department.
The new department was unanimously approved by Metro’s board of directors last year after a surge in crime and attacks against bus drivers, and after years of contracting to outside enforcement agencies to patrol the Los Angeles County rail and bus system.
Metro is testing millimeter wave technology at several light-rail stations. The technology, designed to reveal weapons hidden under clothing, is similar to that used in airports. It is planning to expand the pilot program to some of its buses.
