As for the comments from the CBC about how passengers should have jumped the guy, wow. Nothing like uninformed, unqualified judgments from the peanut gallery. Even with appropriate training, given that the attack occurred near the back of the bus (think confined space) and proximity of younger and elderly passengers, attempting to subdue Li would have been untenable. It would have put more lives at risk, and the chance of saving the youth’s life sadly would have been slim.

And I second what davey has said about the survivors likely already replaying things in their head, “what could I have done differently” type of thoughts. It would be that much harder for them if more people had been injured or killed…

[quote comment="60265"] You may save a couple lives, but seriously. This is a freak case, and is very unlikely to happen again.[/quote]

I bet they said that about school shootings…..

In my opinion, there is no excuse for judgments of ANY kind to be made about those who were involved with this incident. To even think about this happening and to read about it I am sure is indeed traumatic to many. Imagine the impact that it could be having on those who were involved! And to compound that by adding to the doubts that I am sure they ALREADY HAVE about what they did… it is unbelievable. No one has the right to say that what those passengers did was right or wrong save for the passengers themselves. What they need is support if they are going to be able to heal, and those who have the audacity to say they did wrong by doing what 99% of people would do without so much as a single thought are the same people whose ignorance allows our terrible mental health system to exist.

Start thinking about other people for once.

http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2008/08/01/border-searches.html

US Border Guards will have the power to search everyone’s laptop, cell phones, etc. and make copies of any and all information and analyze it “off site” as well as share it with other government agencies, etc.

Be afraid…be very, very afraid.

No cutting off of the head just a plain stabbing in the stomach several times to a pregnant mother.

They were involved - they were both out patients of the local psych ward - he needed a bullet too but he turned himself in.

Make a choice - suffer the consequences - can’t deal with your life - get help.

No one can be absolved of their own actions due to circumstance it isn’t fair to the victim.

I am still sad for the child (yes a child of 20 or so) that could have been my child.

The man on the bus - like the man who killed my high school friend - isn’t worth preserving.

Can’t honestly fathom that anyone has even an ounce of sympathy for him.

But then this is the sad world we live in.

Hope

Rap music on headphones psychopath = chaos and muder

[/quote]

Ugh. Has anyone read the comments? It’s almost more terrifying than the murder itself. I realize so much of it is an emotional reaction to something that is incomprehensible, but there are a whole lot of people talking about the death penalty. I mean - holy shit! Like every second entry!

I think I’ll just hang out here with more like-minded folk and give my poor brain a rest……

Yeah, those comments were actually pissing me off. Everyone thinks they’re Batman until they’re put in a situation like that. One of the witnesses said that three men actually went back on the bus to try and help the victim before being chased off. In my eyes, that’s FAR more heroism that you normally see in the real world, and if that part of the story is true, those men are probably much braver than me. 37 people (some of which were children) could probably take one guy, but some of them would definitely not have made it out. A bus aisle is narrow, and basically only one or two people at a time would be able to reach this guy…my money is on the crazy guy with a knife.

Those witnesses will never be the same. I’m almost more disgusted by people who try and blame them then I am by the actual crime itself.

Agreed. This is a very tragic and disturbing incident, but people get completely irrational after events such as this and start demanding policies that are, quite frankly, stupid. A knife registry? That is beyond ridiculous. I can easily MAKE a knife. If I want to stab someone, finding an unregistered object to do so with isn’t going to be a challenge. Heightened security on buses? Is that really what we need? Should we start showing up hours early to take the bus a couple towns over so that we have time to go through the same shit as at the airport?

Neither Greyhound nor the government was to blame for this (although a decent case could possibly be made against the latter with regards to deinstitutionalization and poor mental health care, but I won’t touch that one since I don’t know this man’s history). A terrible thing happened. Changed policies won’t change the fact that soon something new will happen to scare us into wanting MORE policy changes. I’m not saying that policy is never to blame. In this case though, I can’t see how it is.

Ya I saw those too. Just my perspective but I’m not sure they would have been able to save the poor kid anyway as it sounds like he’d hit him a few times before anybody figured out what was going on, and it would likely have resulted in more injuries or fatalities. Under certain circumstances it makes sense to jump in and help folks out in trouble - I think all of us that are decent people would like to think that, in an emergency, we would do that. i guess we’d also hope our fellow citizens would jump in to save us too.

From another angle though, it is not always wise to go inserting yourself into situations were you don’t know what’s going on. Sure - a little kid in a lake about to go down for the last time - I think that’s a given. However, two guys in a fight - that’s another thing entirely. I know it was not the situation here, but in my former life doing some police work I saw a lot of Good Samaritans get hurt by inserting themselves in dangerous situations. It’s a tough call - but I agree with Polarbear - people should not be criticizing the passengers on the bus for not disarming the guy - that is ridiculous.

This got me thinking of a story recently in the news about a 78 year old man that was hit by a car, and left lying in the middle of the street while “citizens” went about their business, and didn’t bother to go assist him, etc… Cars were even going around him as if he were roadkill in the way of their path. I forget how long it took until someone FINALLY came to his aide. This was a case of a quick opportunity ignored by people without a moral compass. I said the same thing about this, WHAT THE?

What gets me about this, is that some are calling for higher security for bus transit. You could get gutted walking in a park by people just as crazy as this guy. You may save a couple lives, but seriously. This is a freak case, and is very unlikely to happen again.

“There go Conservative theories that decapitation is the sole province of Muslim extremists.”

…what?

“Now. Who’s doling out that extra cash to fly?”

Name any other violent attack of that sort on a Greyhound… sometimes incredibly disturbing, bizarre, but random events do occur.

The idea that this could be a completely random like this could happen is terrifying, but apart from the grim imagery of the event, school shootings are certainly more common and often damage or destroy more than one “random” life.

Also, you spelled my name wrong. It was obvious. Just thought I’d point that out too.[/quote]

You must of misunderstood the point I was trying to get across. The “obvious” was that I totally agreed with what you said. Pointing out that this person is an “idiot” for saying something like that. I could care less about how they spelling. I hope you really didn’t think I was that stupid. :)[/quote]

Oh, and please don’t point out my little mistake in that second to last sentence. Just kidding!!! :)

Also, you spelled my name wrong. It was obvious. Just thought I’d point that out too.[/quote]

You must of misunderstood the point I was trying to get across. The “obvious” was that I totally agreed with what you said. Pointing out that this person is an “idiot” for saying something like that. I could care less about how they spelling. I hope you really didn’t think I was that stupid. :)

Also, you spelled my name wrong. It was obvious. Just thought I’d point that out too.