A man was fatally stabbed Tuesday after exiting a Metro bus in South Los Angeles, police said, the latest incident in a string of violence that has plagued L.A. County’s public transit system.
Officials responded to the stabbing at the Slauson J Line Park & Ride on Slauson Avenue near the 110 Freeway at 2 p.m. Tuesday, according to Officer Kevin Terzes, a Los Angeles Police Department spokesperson.
The victim and his suspected assailant got off the Metro bus and later got into an argument, Terzes said, at which point the suspect pulled out a weapon and stabbed the victim.
The Los Angeles Fire Department rushed the man to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead. His identity has not been released. The LAPD did not provide a detailed description of the suspect.
Metro spokesperson Dave Sotero extended condolences to the dead man’s friends and family, while underscoring the agency’s ongoing efforts to help increase safety.
“Violence in the communities we serve spilling over onto our public transit systems continues to be an issue in Greater Los Angeles,” Sotero said. “We share the concerns of Metro employees and riders about the recent increase in severity of crime on the Metro system.”
The stabbing is the latest in a recent string of violent incidents that have been linked to the L.A. Metro system, coming just a few days after a man was fatally shot on a Metro train in the Baldwin Hills area.
However, Sotero noted that overall crime in April on Metro was down by 44% compared with a year prior. Violent crime, though, was up slightly compared to March.
“Our employees deserve a safe workplace and our customers deserve a safe ride, so nothing we are working on is more important than addressing public safety on our Metro system,” he said in a statement.
The agency has made several recent changes in attempts to curb violence, including an increase in public safety personnel on buses and trains, which Sotero said amounted to a “20% surge” of Metro transit security officers and unarmed “ambassadors.”
The Metro board on Thursday is scheduled to consider if the agency will resurrect its own police force, a proposal that came about after a rise in drug overdoses and more severe violence on the transit system.
Metro also recently implemented a pilot program that requires riders to tap their fare cards in order to leave a train station in hopes of increasing order and a sense of security.
Staff writer Rachel Uranga contributed to this report.