Man fatally stabbed on Metro Blue Line train in Long Beach
A rider on a Blue Line train in Long Beach was fatally stabbed Wednesday afternoon, the third stabbing to occur on a Metro transit line within a week and the system’s second confirmed homicide this year.
Long Beach police responded to reports of an attack at the 1st Street station around 3:38 p.m. Officers arrived to find a man suffering from multiple stab wounds, police spokesperson Brandon Fahey said.
Passengers aboard the train had alerted the rail operator that a passenger was injured during a fight and needed immediate medical attention, Metro representative Pam Krebs said. The victim died en route to a local hospital, she said.
During a preliminary investigation, detectives determined that three unidentified males boarded the train in Long Beach and immediately approached the victim and began assaulting him, police said. One of the males then pulled out a knife and stabbed the victim multiple times.
When the train came to a stop near 1st Street and Pine Avenue, the attackers fled the scene on foot, police said.
Commuters have abandoned large swaths of a Los Angeles Metro train system plagued by crime and the scourge of drugs.
The victim, who has not been identified, was described only as a man in his 20s.
The attackers remain at large, police said. A motive has not been determined but authorities said the incident does not appear to be random.
A graphic video of the stabbing’s aftermath was posted to Twitter, and showed paramedics giving CPR to a man on the station’s platform. A bystander uses coarse language to describe the attack to a police officer as the videographer steps into the train car to reveal a pool of blood.
The fatal incident is just the latest episode of violence to hit the embattled transit system.
This is the Metro’s second confirmed homicide in 2023, Krebs said.
The transportation authority’s goal with the classical music is to ‘to restore safety’ at the MacArthur Park station. The music is divisive, with online commentators calling it an inhumane torture tactic.
Last week, two people were reported stabbed at Metro Red Line stations in separate incidents, police said.
One man was stabbed after an apparent argument while in the train, the Los Angeles Police Department said. Police responded to reports of an assault with a deadly weapon at the Hollywood/Western station. A man with severe injuries was taken to a hospital. Police have since arrested 27-year-old Alex Garcia of Los Angeles in connection with the stabbing, according to an LAPD news release that said Garcia was booked on charges of attempted murder.
Another man was stabbed while standing on the Red Line platform at the Westlake/MacArthur Park station, said Nicholas Prange, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles Fire Department. The victim was transported to a hospital for injuries to his neck and torso.
The attacks do not appear to be related, the LAPD said.
Metro has seen a dramatic increase in violent crimes, with a 24% increase in aggravated assault, robbery, rape and murder from 2021 to 2022, according to its latest yearly report. The Red Line had by far the highest number of crimes at 687, nearly twice as many as the next line, the Blue Line, the report said.
Times staff writer Nathan Solis contributed to this report.
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