'Disturbing': Smith promises change after Edmonton bus damaged, rider threatened with ice pick
A 20-year-old man has been arrested and charged after police say he caused more than $5,000 worth of damage to an Edmonton Transit Bus and threatened a female passenger, acts that drew condemnation from Alberta's premier.
Police officers were called to the Northgate Transit Terminal on 137 Avenue and 97 Street at 10:45 p.m. on Jan. 22.
The man was "acting erratically" when he entered the empty bus through an open rear door, Edmonton Police Service confirmed to CTV News Edmonton on Monday.
"The male caused significant damage to the interior of the bus before reportedly exiting the bus with an ice pick that he had located on the bus. It was reported that he then threatened a female who was standing outside," Sgt. Dan Thames wrote in an email.
EPS' Air1 helicopter was called in to track the man and Thames said he was arrested a short time later.
Police didn't provide the name of the accused but said several charges have been laid including mischief over $5,000.
The driver had already left the bus to use the washroom and was not directly involved, a city spokesperson said, adding that no one else was injured in the incident.
"No one quite knows why [it happened], but it certainly looked like an exercise in frustration to me," said Steve Bradshaw, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 569.
"I don’t want to make light of [incidents like this]. They’re one-offs, they’re anecdotal in some ways, but they matter. They affect how we feel going to work, or how riders feel getting on the bus."
The damage is expected to cost anywhere from $3,500 to $5,000 to fix.
'HELP IS ON THE WAY'
"These images are disturbing. Edmonton deserves better," Premier Danielle Smith wrote when she shared photos of the bus in a Sunday tweet.
"[Public Safety and Emergency Services Minister] Mike Ellis, Edmonton Police Service and the task force have my full support to not only provide compassionate care to those suffering addiction, but also ensure reliable public safety across our capital city."
CTV News Edmonton has been provided with several copies of photos showing the damage to the bus, but has not been able to confirm the original source of the images.
Smith's government assembled the Edmonton Public Safety and Community Response Task Force in December in response to social disorder and police reporting a rise in violence downtown and along transit lines.
"The task force is focused on collaboration between municipal and provincial officials combined with expertise brought by community leaders to find meaningful solutions to social disorder," Ellis, a former Calgary police officer, tweeted about the bus incident.
"We are working diligently to find solutions that will have real impact to improving public safety by helping along a path to recovery. Help is on the way soon."
A spokesperson for Ellis said the task force will be making an announcement on Wednesday about "concrete action" it is taking.
'THEY HAVEN'T REALLY STEPPED UP'
Last February, a new Transit Safety Plan was approved in Edmonton in an effort to improve safety and cleanliness on the system while providing mental health, housing and addictions support to people who need it.
"The disorder that we are seeing in our streets are a direct result of homelessness, addiction and mental health crisis that we are facing in our communities and I welcome the province's intervention in this," Mayor Amarjeet Sohi told reporters Monday.
"These are provincial responsibilities and they haven't really stepped up to provide necessary support to struggling Edmontonians and the impact is more disorder."
Sohi pointed out that city council has recently increased the police budget, is funding new safety and cleanliness programs in Chinatown and is hiring more peace officers and security officers for transit centres.
The mayor wants Alberta to increase the number of shelter spaces and supportive housing units in the city as well as improve access to mental health and addiction treatment programs.
With files from CTV News Edmonton's Jeremy Thompson
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.