Detroit police hunt suspect in fatal stabbing on DDOT bus

A 50-year-old woman with a walker was stabbed to death on a public transit bus on Detroit’s west side after an argument between her and another woman spiraled out of control, according to police.

The woman who reportedly carried out the stabbing was still at large late Wednesday.

The incident happened around 3:45 p.m., just as a Detroit Department of Transportation bus was letting off passengers near Rosa Parks and West Grand River, said Capt. Nick Kyriacou with Detroit Police.

As the victim woman moved to get off, she bumped into another woman, 30, who was trying to get on, said Sgt. Michael Woody, a police spokesman. That sent the two into a physical altercation that culminated in the younger woman stabbing the other woman, Kyriacou said.

Julian Smith, 34, of Detroit, says he was just a few feet away when the attack started. He was heading home after college classes and watched the assailant engage in a verbal argument with the 50-year-old before the assailant suddenly wielded a knife and began stabbing the woman with the walker more than 10 times.

In the ensuing seconds, there was an “avalanche” of people pouring out of the halted vehicle. The assailant was pulled away from the scene by a bystander, who then led her off the bus before she took off running.

The victim was taken to a local hospital and was pronounced dead. The victim’s name has not yet been released because the family has not been notified, Kyriacou said.

When Smith got back on the bus to retrieve his bag, there was blood all over the floor, including on the notebook he had left behind.

“It was just a really silly argument that just got totally out of control,” Smith said. His account differs with the police: he said the assailant was already on the bus before it stopped, and that the two had gotten into an unnecessary fight because the older woman kept rambling to no one in particular.

The bump with the walker then caused the other woman to produce the knife.

Smith added: “You don’t see somebody getting murdered every day. I don’t know if I’ll ever forget that.”

Woody emphasized that there have been safety measures taken in the past couple years. Twenty-nine people have filled transit police positions, and video cameras have been installed.

The bus system handles 500,000 riders weekly, Woody said.

Early Wednesday night, hours after the stabbing, the bus was still pulled over to the curb, with its warning lights blinking, as Detroit Police collected evidence from the scene, and a K-9 unit was also dispatched.

Contact Daniel Bethencourt: dbethencourt@freepress.com or 313-223-4531. Follow on Twitter at @_dbethencourt.