Here’s some unfortunate news from our neighbor to the north. In case you haven’t heard, there was a violent and unprovoked attack on a Greyhound bus in Canada recently in which on passenger stabbed, beheaded, and cannibalized another passenger. In the wake of this horrific incident, Greyhound is pulling their latest ad campaign.
From the AP:
The ad’s tag line was “There’s a reason you’ve never heard of ‘bus rage.”‘
Greyhound spokeswoman Abby Wambaugh said Wednesday a billboard and some tunnel posters near a bus terminal in Toronto are still up and would be removed later in the day.
“Greyhound knows how important it is to get these removed and we are doing everything possible,” Wambaugh said. “This is something that we immediately asked to be done last week, realizing that these could be offensive.”
…
As horrified passengers fled the bus, Li severed McLean’s head, displaying it to some of the passengers outside the bus, witnesses said.A police officer at the scene reported seeing the attacker hacking off pieces of the victim’s body and eating them, according to a police report.
Wambaugh said the ads only appeared in Canada and that some in Ontario and western Canada have already been removed.
“Bus Rage” Ads Scrapped After Beheading [CBS News](Thanks, Nayeli!)
(Photo: AP)
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@P_Smith: Um, no, shooting on a Greyhound (from a former law officer) would not ignite the bus. It’s diesel, the fuel tank is not in the back and I am sure texans wouldn’t miss.
And speaking about missing the target, Canada doesn’t have the death penalty, so this killer (oh sorry, presumed killer) will likely get sponsored mental health living. Insanity and Canadian tax dollars keeping him alive till old age. Perhaps the suspect is a former Chinese military-agent gone nuts from conditioning and now is loose in the land of the goose…
(Horrible tragedy, eh. I feel sorry for the passengers and family of the victim)
Argh…I read this before bed last night, then some articles about the incident. Nightmares. And yet it’s real. So awful. Sounds like we might find out that the victim’s co-worker (who the psycho was hanging out with up front before moving back next to the victim) MIGHT have given the nutcase an ecstacy in addition to his already deranged mindset. Looks like the victim Tim McClean had been texting his ex-girlfriend (who he remained best friends with) up until shortly before the incident, and talked about some people on the bus were doing ecstasy. His co-worker from a carnival, Stacey, had been chatting and smoking with the perp at a rest stop just prior to the incident.
…and there may be more not being released…but the ex-girlfriend (who was texted) seems to be convinced that this Stacey had something to do with whatever set this guy off (not that he isn’t responsible for his own actions, but that something happened with her).
@Wormfather is Wormfather: But according to The Simpsons, you can’t laugh if you have no soul.
Still annoying to me that 37 (?) people stood around, fled, or soiled themselves while this was going on. I’ll be charitable and assume that people studied the situation and came to the conclusion that the victim was very dead and there was no point in hanging around.
About the ads, I dunno – I took a Peter Pan from Portland to Boston one time and I was pretty raged.
@zibby: Not all of the people. A few tried to pull Li off / tackle him, but as they got closer Li turned around and threatened them with the knife. I’m pretty damn positive that this monster would have been capable of adding more people to his body count. As sad as it is, after one attempt… they did the right thing. No one else was murdered…
@Mistrez_Mish: Hadn’t heard that, but good to know that notion of doing something occurred to a few people. Helps one’s faith in the human spirit and all that.
I read this online in Santa Cruz’s paper yesterday. (Our paper is blocked.) The headline was right under one about animal activists firebombing the home of a UCSC researcher to save the lives of some mice. It didn’t say they were PETA but I wouldn’t be surprised.
Having ridden the bus from CA to MO, I must say that with Greyhound, I was more freaked by the DRIVERS than the passengers. One lady I met in the LA terminal told me that their driver stopped the bus in the middle of the desert, got off, walked away and didn’t come back for THREE HOURS. The passengers were freaking out before he came back without a word, got back in the seat and pulled back out on the road. A asked her if they reported it and she said yes, but it was the scariest thing. She said no one knew how to drive the bus, or what was going on.
Also, one of the drivers on my route got on our bus to take over for the first driver and yelled at us that we would not misbehave on his bus or else. I decided that no matter how broke I was, I would never take Greyhound again.
I wonder if they are going to have a half off sale now… Comes with 2 free sandwiches, one for you one for the armed psychopath next to you.
@SigmundTheSeaMonster: Its true, and its a shame, since I can imagine few instances where the DP was called for more. You’re right though, he’s not going to jail…at a hearing yesterday or the day before, he told a courtroom to “kill me, please”. He’s going to an institution.
As to others talking about Greyhound’s liability for getting sued vs. compassion, I think it was a mix of both. A greyhound employee probably saw the ad and pulled it right away for compassionate reasons, but with or without the ad, Greyhound is going to be liable in civil court for this, if they let it get that far.
@P_Smith: Japheaux does have a good point, one that gun advocates rightly make.
The infamous Charles Whitman was suppressed by civilian gunfire, keeping casualties way below what they could have been before the law finally got there. When they stormed the tower, it was a combination of law and civilians also. Oh, and don’t forget the passengers in the plane that didn’t make it’s target on 9/11, who heroically died preventing further disaster.
I guess it’s understandable that noone reacted in this case to try to save the poor victim, but had they been armed it would have been a very different story and that poor man might still be alive instead of that lunatic.
@P_Smith: Buy a gun and shoot it at a tank filled with diesel. Give me a call and let me know when it blows up. See you never!
cannibalized? I hadn’t heard that bit.
Well, I just looked and the rates have been jacked waaaay up on Greyhound since last year- not surprising, really. It’s still now at the point that to fly the same route (nashua to buffalo and back) is only $20-40 more than taking the bus, for a whole lot less time involved in traveling. And with even how crappy the airlines have been treating people, i’ll take 3 hours of travel over 13 any day.
@TheSpatulaOfLove: Yeah, it isn’t pretty. I’ve bought tickets for buses, then got in line and watched it fill before my eyes. The bus drivers don’t care. A bus driver told a friend of mine to “validate” his ticket (whatever that means) in the office. The woman selling the tickets told him his ticket was fine, go back to the line. He got back and there was space on the bus-tried to get to the front of the line but the driver wouldn’t let him. Waited 3 hours for the next bus, but not for yelling at the bus driver that it was his mistake, and he should be able to get on the bus. He shrugged. The drivers are truly apathetic.
Wow PETA, stay classy.
BTW, bus rage exists. I’ve had it, and I’ve witnessed others have it. It stems from dealing with a company that (a) is the only game in town, (b) knows this, and (c) takes that as their cue to walk all over their customers.
PETA just hit a new low. I lost the inkling of respect I had for them with this one. I don’t know how anyone could respect them or give them an inkling of credibility after this horrible, horrible attention-grabbing stunt.
Pitiful. Shameful. Disgusting.
@badgeman46: Yep, one death in a billion passengers gives a good reason to avoid riding the bus. Now, if you had suggested it was because of the creepy passengers…you might have a better case.
The victim of this tragic incident happens to actually be my second cousin, so I actually know the family involved – and seeing as I live near the incident, I actually know one of the crisis councilors involved. So a few points I would like to clarify are:
1. There was no cannibalism. Period. Horrific and insane as it was, nobody involved saw the attacker eating the victim.
2. Nobody is blaming greyhound, or calling for metal detectors, or called for the ad to be pulled.
3. Greyhound, however, did not pay for the crisis counseling of the passengers… the province did. Brandon Regional Health Authority dispatched its crisis response team; made up of psychiatric nurses, chaplains, and councilors; which did a stellar job as always. BRHA is funded by the government, like all other health care in the province.
Just wanted to clear a couple things up.
@mizike who said:
“The majority of people who take the greyhound have the finances to either go by bus, or not at all.”
This is largely true, but don’t forget that Canada has a lot of remote places that are, for all practical purposes, almost exclusively serviced by Greyhound. (ie no train, no plane)
We happen to live somewhere relatively remote by choice, but travel out of country for business often. Our only other choice is a commuter plane running twice a day, Mon – Fri only (so, totally impractical to get somewhere on a Sat. or Sunday to be ready for work on Monday and similarly, for coming home after the end of a work week) or a train that runs a couple of times per week, in the middle of the night.
The Greyhound is often the only reasonable choice that doesn’t extend our trip by 2 – 4 days. And when the client is reimbursing expenses, those extra hotel nights/meals *are* noticed.
As frequent travelers who choose not to drive, Greyhound is often the only option.
@klc: I’m very sorry for your loss and hope your family is coping as well as can be expected.