Police charge 40-year-old man in bus beheading General: Discussion

newmommy · #1 08-01-2008

OTTAWA (AFP) — Police charged a suspect Friday with unpremeditated murder in the horrific stabbing, beheading and gutting of a fellow bus passenger returning home from a carnival in Western Canada.

Vince Weiguang Li, 40, of Edmonton faces a charge of second-degree murder, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police announced.

The victim was 22 years old, police said. Friends identified him as Tim McLean, a happy-go-lucky young man who was returning home to Winnipeg from a job as a carnival worker in Edmonton.

According to reports, McLean had been listening to music and texting friends and family, his cheek pressed against the window of the bus when his assailant struck suddenly, stabbing him repeatedly in the chest with a "big Rambo knife."

The other 34 passengers and the driver were jolted by "blood-curdling screams" and fled, bracing the door on their way out to trap the assailant inside the bus, witness Garnet Caton told public broadcaster CBC.

"He must have stabbed him 50 times or 60 times," said Caton.

"The Legend of Zorro" had been playing on tiny television screens on the bus as dusk approached and passengers had begun to doze off.

The victim's father told CBC he had received a text message from his son as the bus was leaving Brandon for the last leg of his 600-kilometer (370-mile) journey, asking if he could stay a night.

Tim McLean Sr. replied, of course, he could come home.

The suspect, described as a large man wearing sun glasses, had been on the bus for only an hour and did not sit near McLean at first, said Caton.

During a stop, the suspect smoked a cigarette and then moved to the back of the bus to find an empty seat next to McLean, stowing his bags in an overhead bin, he said.

Half an hour later, he struck.

The bus driver, hearing screams, pulled to the side of the road and opened the door.

Passengers scrambled over one another, according to witnesses cited by the Globe and Mail newspaper. An elderly woman was knocked to the floor. A mother seated at the rear threw her toddler several rows forward to get the child away from danger.

When Caton and two others returned to check on the victim, he said they saw the attacker "cutting the guy's head off and gutting him."

"While we were watching ... he calmly walked up to the front (of the bus) with the head in his hand and the knife and just calmly stared at us and dropped the head right in front of us."

"There was no rage in him and he wasn't swearing or cursing or anything, it was just like he was a robot or something."

Moments later, police surrounded the bus and arrested the man after a nearly three-hour standoff, an official said. "He was taunting police with the head in his hand out the window," said Caton.

The suspect eventually jumped out of a broken window of the bus parked on the side of the desolate highway, and was subdued by police, RCMP Sergeant Steve Colwell told a press conference.

"At this time, I'm not aware of what may have provoked this attack," Colwell said, refusing to comment on eyewitness accounts of attack, which occured at 9 pm Wednesday (0200 GMT Thursday) on a Greyhound bus traveling east from Edmonton to Winnipeg.

"I can confirm the victim was stabbed, and that the victim was pronounced dead at the scene," he said.

Overnight, a Facebook website called "R.I.P. Tim" sprang up after news of his death.

"This is one of the most horrific crimes I have ever heard in my life," said one posting.

"I can't believe this is happening," wrote Leah Dryburgh of Winnipeg. "Tim, you were the best guy ever. You didn't deserve this at all."

Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day called the attack "horrific."

newmommy · #2 08-01-2008

when i saw this on the news i cryed. omg .. what is this world comming to? who can you trust any more. RIP Tim!!

Damage82 · #3 08-01-2008

that is messed up. I would never picture that happening here. I can't help but think about why he did it, you can't be right in the head at all to do something like that.

Chinna Dah · #4 08-01-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by Damage82

you can't be right in the head at all to do something like that.

I was thinking the same thing

donteatrawpotatoes · #5 08-01-2008

How could anyone take such a precious thing without second thought? I really don't understand the world we live in, and I don't want to understand it, I just want it to change. I use to take the bus to northern NB by myself all the time when I was 15-18. now I don't know if I'd want to take it at all. (not just because of this incident.) It's just so unreal the disregard some people have for life... Life is meant to be precious and cherished. This is just a terrible tragedy.

**rhiley_08j** · #6 08-01-2008

This whole incident reminds me of something you would see in a horror movie. I wouldn't be surprised if before long it was made into one. My opinion on things like this is that some people have become so calloused because of things they absorb through media that they can no longer distinguish between reality and fiction. I am not saying that this applies to everyone, but we all know that there are many people out there who are "not playing with a full deck" and when they are confronted with disturbing images, etc, they thrive, as if adding fuel to the fire.

Misty589 · #7 08-01-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by rhiley_08j

This whole incident reminds me of something you would see in a horror movie. I wouldn't be surprised if before long it was made into one. My opinion on things like this is that some people have become so calloused because of things they absorb through media that they can no longer distinguish between reality and fiction. I am not saying that this applies to everyone, but we all know that there are many people out there who are "not playing with a full deck" and when they are confronted with disturbing images, etc, they thrive, as if adding fuel to the fire.

I have to agree. I know that when I was a teenager I could watch shows like law and order and csi, and not have a second thought. I haven't had television at home for 5 years now and if I see one of those shows (that are on at like 7 oclock at night i might add ! ) It really disturbs me, I've become sensitized again.
I always wonder what kind of people can actually write this garbage, and how the tv stations can air it at all, let alone at times of day when children are still awake. I'm afraid that this generation is growing up to think that this kind of thing "just happens" and is normal

I just heard about this this morning, and it's been on my mind a lot today. I hope that this young man is able to rest in peace and that his murderer gets his due.

sometimes I just want to go back in time about 100 years.............

inuit · #8 08-01-2008

I feel for that poor young man's parents. They must be going through hell. My heartfelt sympathies go out to all of his family. What a horrible thing to have happen to your family. He was so young and to die in such an awful way. Where is God?

newmommy · #9 08-01-2008

when i saw this on the news today i actually cried. i never knew the man but my heart sank . i have been thinking about this all day and wondering what is safe anymore. it really makes you think that we all take life for granted. this could of happened to anyone of us!I have 2 lil ones and am only 21 yrs old and I'm scared to put my kids on a bus with me now to go to sussex to visit family . The crazy thing is , is that the man who was killed was my age. like who in their right mind would have done this to a kid!!I think it would mess me up but i would like to be inside a room with someone who killed someone and ask what the hell they were thinking . We have some messed up people in this world now a days . I was reading that the man who killed the other man had no emotion in court!

donteatrawpotatoes · #10 08-01-2008

Not only the family of the deceased, but those who were on that bus, and possibly their families are going to forever be scarred by this. I cry almost every time I watch the news, I haven't watched it since April. I just have a really hard time with things like this. I can't believe that anyone would think the way of this murderer. And to call it second degree murder?! He went on that bus to kill somebody with his 'rambo' knife. That sounds premeditated to me.

livkat · #11 08-01-2008

Makes you wonder if bus stations will set up some methods of security now.

Tig · #12 08-01-2008

Canada , needs to bring in the death penalty.

donteatrawpotatoes · #13 08-01-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tig

Canada , needs to bring in the death penalty.

For something like THIS I agree. There's no doubt he did it and he's a waste of everyone's money, and natural resources. He doesn't deserve the oxygen we share with him.I'm not a big fan of the idea of the death penalty... But this man just in a way ended so many people's lives. All those people are going to be terrified to do anything, and for the toddler who was thrown over seats in an attempt to save their life? Lovely first memory that. It's so hypocritical for me to say, but I don't think this man deserves to live.

MichelleM · #14 08-01-2008

What I find a little disturbing is that nobody tried to stop him. They all got off the bus and left the victim inside with him.

newmommy · #15 08-01-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by MichelleM

What I find a little disturbing is that nobody tried to stop him. They all got off the bus and left the victim inside with him.

yes, i was thinking the same thing. but then my hubby was like youd think something like that but when it comes down to it would you really go at a man with a "rambo" knife who is already stabbing someone and who would probally do the same to you. people are very selfish with that. i dont know what i would have done! the guy was already dead. my aunt said you can go on youtube and see the news interviews . i havnt watched it yet. im still pretty upset about the whole thing.

JR3282 · #16 08-02-2008

What could you do unless you were sitting right next to the area in which it happened.....have you ever seen the inside of these buses...not much room to move...not to metion the 50 people that would run you over trying to get off the bus. I know its easy to say.."Nobody helped him"...Its easy to say..."if i was in that situation I would of..." but sometimes what we "think" we would do and reality are two different things.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MichelleM

What I find a little disturbing is that nobody tried to stop him. They all got off the bus and left the victim inside with him.

newmommy · #17 08-02-2008

i think that they need some tight security now on the buses or at least at the terminal or both. how can someone bring a knife that big on a bus and no one notice. because of Sept 11 we have tight security at the airport, the border and we have NOTHING at the bus terminals which is insane!!

livkat · #18 08-02-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by MichelleM

What I find a little disturbing is that nobody tried to stop him. They all got off the bus and left the victim inside with him.

By the time the other passengers realized what was going on, there would have been no chance of saving the victim.

magoosmomma · #19 08-02-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by donteatrawpotatoes

Not only the family of the deceased, but those who were on that bus, and possibly their families are going to forever be scarred by this. I cry almost every time I watch the news, I haven't watched it since April. I just have a really hard time with things like this. I can't believe that anyone would think the way of this murderer. And to call it second degree murder?! He went on that bus to kill somebody with his 'rambo' knife. That sounds premeditated to me.

I totally agree. He took this "knife" on this bus with the intention of using it on someone..somewhere.. Why not call it first degree murder then? How is it not premeditated?!

**trinity** · #20 08-02-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by MichelleM

What I find a little disturbing is that nobody tried to stop him. They all got off the bus and left the victim inside with him.

I think they were all caught by surprise, they didn't know what to do. If there had been any sort of lead-up to this, like an argument or weird behaviour on the part of the man, people would have been more ready and willing to help. One guy said he was looking for a way to safely get close and help when the screaming suddenly stopped and he knew it was too late. As well, there was the "crowd psychology" going on, and the victim was a stranger to them all- people are far less likely to rush to help a stranger than someone they know.

It sounds like the man had a breakdown, he was a paper carrier in Edmonton. Doesn't sound like much of a career for a 40 year old, but we don't know the whole story. Maybe it made him enough money to live on out there. Maybe it was a job he was doing while looking for work. Who knows?