Posted on 09/05/2008 7:50:24 AM PDT by Stoat
Amtrak Passenger Stabbed While Sleeping - Considering the recent beheading in Canada an a Greyhound bus, an attempted beheading on another bus, and this… I may consider alternatives to public transportation.
A 24-year-old man was stabbed while sleeping on an Amtrak train just south of the Oregon state line.
The suspect, Armando Avalos, jumped from the train and suffered a broken ankle, authorities said. Avalos, 48, of Oxnard, Calif., was arrested Saturday on charges of attempted murder, parole violation and manufacture and possession of a dangerous weapon.
He was being held without bail Tuesday at the jail in Siskiyou County, Calif.
The victim, Rodolfo Marroquin, of Visalia, Calif., was taken to Sky Lakes Medical Center in Klamath Falls, where he was treated for four stab wounds on the left side of his back, said Susan Gravenkamp, a spokeswoman for the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office.
Marroquin told investigators he boarded the train in Eugene and sat next to Avalos. The strangers spoke briefly.
Avalos paced the aisle and left the rail car for a time, making Marroquin uncomfortable. Marroquin said he switched to another seat and fell asleep. He awoke to a sharp pain in his back and the sight of Avalos running away. Officials said Avalos jumped after the emergency brake was pulled.
Deputies and a search dog looking for Avalos spotted him along a rural road, sitting beside a fire. Avalos notified deputies that his ankle was broken. He was arrested and taken to Fairchild Medical Center in Yreka, where he underwent surgery, Gravenkamp said.
A backpack Avalos left on the train contained a loaded handgun, ammunition, a digital scale and marijuana, the sheriff’s office said.
When did it become the drivers job to fight with mentally unbalanced passengers. If you don’t care enough about your own health to train to protect yourself, why should the driver. Carry a sidearm. Learn how to use it first.
Self responsibility, something socialists refuse to acknowledge exists.
It never has been nor did I intend to suggest that it was. Given the admittedly sparse details provided in the article, other avenues are suggested as possibilities, particularly given the very long timeframe involved such as having police meet the bus en-route far sooner or pulling over and stopping and emptying the bus of the other passengers. Not having more details and not having been there it's difficult to offer concrete suggestions, but allowing an immediate life threat to exist for such a very long time naturally makes one want to think of other options.
If you don’t care enough about your own health to train to protect yourself, why should the driver. Carry a sidearm. Learn how to use it first.
Self responsibility, something socialists refuse to acknowledge exists.
Agreed.
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