[Atheist]

Originally Posted by Uncle Doof 

They could wear nice berets.

And they each should have 15 pieces of flair on those berets.

[andreas_g4]

D u d e … ???

[ryaxnb]

But the bus is my only way of getting around

So I shouldn't go out of my house without my mom?
:/ Nah, maybe I'll take my chances...


I like the bus. Here in Santa Cruz, we have limited bus service. The bus is 3/4 mile away from where I live (unless I'm living in Boulder Creek, CA instead of Felton, CA) and comes every 30 minutes, and it's one of the biggest buses in town. The 17 that heads north to the SF Bay (san jose), comes every 60-90 min. and many local buses occur every 60-90 minutes from around 7AM-6PM. Oh well, I still take it regularly, 'cause it's fun!

[ghporter]

Originally Posted by Chuckit 

Heck, even a stun gun (which doesn't count as a concealed carry in the US) could have done the trick.

And yeah, I agree, I think I would have been inclined to try and stop the guy. But people aren't always at their best in scary situations.

Originally Posted by Knof8 

Fear, the sense that someone else will do something, "Thank god it's not me". All sorts of reasons why people don't help. As far as the airplane that's more along the lines of, "We're trapped up here and if we don't take care of this what's going to happen to us." At least on a bus you can get off, even if it's moving, and survive much better than jumping out a plane with no parachute.

Frankly, some of us aren't sheep, and some of us are. It's a social responsibility of the non-sheep to do what we can to keep the sheep from winding up as lamb cutlets. 'Least that's my philosophy. I've spent my life doing my part to do just that. I step up and help when someone stumbles. I hold the door for people. And if I witness an attack, I will stand up and do something about it. And history seems to show that if one person does that, then others will snap out of their fear-stupor and do something too. Someone has to be a catalyst.

[iranfromthezoo]

Originally Posted by dcmacdaddy 

How long it would take for someone to bleed to death from a major stab wound to the chest or neck? If this guy got stabbed a bunch of times in quick succession I would hope he slipped into shocked before seeing that everyone was running away from him.

(This is not a value judgment of those on the bus or folks on here. While I would like to think of myself as together enough to try to do something in a situation like this, who knows what I would have done were I actually there and saw it for myself.)

The quickness of death depends...but generally if he cut the windpipe or juglar really quick he could have bled out quick or suffocated quickly. Unfortantly he probably felt some pain on his way out but not more than a minute or so...

I wasn't there but I am an EMT and have seen situations like this.

[- - e r i k - -]

Originally Posted by Horsepoo!!! 

You're one of those guys that wants a police/security guard on every street corner, in every bus, in every car and in every home aren't you?

You're one of those guys that fails to detect sarcasm, aren't you?

[Eug]

Li Weiguang (Vince) is the killer.

I wonder what this different Li Weiguang is thinking.

They both sport the same hairdo, and kinda have a similar look superficially. (The murderer is 40 and the photographer is 49 though.)

[Horsepoo!!!]

Originally Posted by - - e r i k - - 

You're one of those guys that fails to detect sarcasm, aren't you?

Unfortunately, I did fail to see the sarcasm. I now read his first sentence and realize that he was kidding. My bad.

[el chupacabra]

I wonder if he was sleepwalking. Interesting that the Canadian dictorial wont release any information about it.

[Face Ache]

Originally Posted by ::maroma:: 

Personally I have no idea how I would react, and I don't think anyone who hasn't been in a similar situation knows how they'd act either.

I disarmed a guy who was running at his girlfriend with a carving knife. I was slightly drunk and didn't have time to think about it. If I had more time to think I probably would have grabbed the guy's wrist, rather than grabbing the blade and cutting my hand up.

The guy hung himself the following year.

Wow, you armchair heroes all think you could have stopped it. The first guy to notice this happened, only noticed after the victim has been stabbed several times. It was late at night, and dark. The victim did not make a sound. He was asleep when it happened. It was too late for him to call for help - nobody knew until after he was dead. Why risk your own life to help nobody? They did the right thing - got everyone to safety and detained the guy until the police showed up.

Originally Posted by Uncle Doof 

Of course, if Canada had concealed carry...

So what? The victim was sleeping. He'd still be dead before he or anyone else could help him.

[Face Ache]

Originally Posted by hayesk 

Wow, you armchair heroes all think you could have stopped it.

Over there! In the corner! Is it a floor lamp? Is it a side table? No, it's CAPTAIN ARMCHAIR!

I can't speak for the others, but I wear my underpants on the outside, buddy. Evildoers know to get out of my way. Actually... everyone gets out of my way. Hmmm.

[James L]

Originally Posted by Face Ache 

I disarmed a guy who was running at his girlfriend with a carving knife. I was slightly drunk and didn't have time to think about it. If I had more time to think I probably would have grabbed the guy's wrist, rather than grabbing the blade and cutting my hand up.

You've either had tons of pressure tested training against an edge weapon, you got extremely lucky, the guy you took the knife from was completely incompetent, or a combination of the above.

Edged weapons in the hands of a determined assailant should be greatly feared and respected. I have been involved in several training sessions where we took fairly high level martial artists who had only trained against simulated edged weapons in a dojo setting. We had an "assailant" with a simulated knife that was chalked, so it would leave a mark on the subject when it came in contact with them. The "assailant" had NO martial arts training. We simply instructed him to "slash and stab as often as possible". The assailant then "attacked" the martial artists in full contact sparring.

It was a lot of fun, we got a ton of bruises, etc. The eye opener, however, was that NO ONE got away without being "cut". Not one of us. Some had defensive wounds on their arms only, most had lethal "injuries". To say there were some egos bruised in the room would be an understatement.

On another occasion we did a training session where you were suddenly attacked by someone, without provocation or warning. Part of the drill, known only to the attacker, was that they would pull a blade at some point during the altercation. Less than 1/2 of the people being "attacked" even realized a knife was drawn. The others didn't even realize it until we stopped the drill and pointed out how many times they had been stabbed.

These drills are not new, and are common in street based self defense systems. They do serve to reinforce how dangerous fighting a determined assailant with an edged weapon is though. A common concept is that an assailant can cross 21 feet and attack in approximately 1.5 seconds.

In a pressure situation, how well will you react in a couple of seconds? If your assailant is attacking you from less than 10 feet away (more common), he is on you and attacking in less than 1 second. 1 freakin' second.

I applaud the people who feel they would have stepped in and tried to disarm the assailant. The reality is, however, that the vast majority of the people who say that would now be dead also. I've seen several people who have had a knife wielding attacker turn on them. They have all ended up on the stretcher in my ambulance.

I don't want to use the phrase "armchair quarterback" in a negative connotation, but NO ONE knows exactly what the people on that bus did except them. No one knows how they would react in that situation unless they were in it. To comment on the horror and sadness of this event is one thing... to critique those who were there or suggest what actions should have been taken when none of us where there is just plain silly.

[Face Ache]

Originally Posted by James L 

You've either had tons of pressure tested training against an edge weapon, you got extremely lucky, the guy you took the knife from was completely incompetent, or a combination of the above.

I'd say he was completely incompetent. He wasn't expecting me to grab it, so he didn't have a tight grip on it.


Doesn't appear to have big forearms, which is what you'd look for in a knife-wielding maniac. I'll bet he lost his grip and cut himself. The kid he killed was only 1.6 metres tall. "Knifey" wasn't looking for someone who could fight back.