Stabbing suspect's aunt: Family tried to prevent attack
OREGON CITY, Ore. - A man riding on a TriMet bus late Tuesday night yelled racist slurs, fought with passengers and the driver, stabbed three people and bit another, Oregon City Police said.
The suspect's aunt told KATU News on Wednesday that his family tried to get him mental help to prevent an attack like this from happening.
The three stabbing victims are in stable condition and do not have life-threatening injuries, police said Wednesday morning.
The incident began at a bus stop for Line 33 near Molalla Avenue and Clairmont Way just before 11 p.m.
Police said Austin William Vanhagen, 19, was yelling racial slurs on the bus but it was unclear who they were directed at. Police said the bus driver is an African American and there were other "bi-racial passengers" on the bus at the time.
Vanhagen's aunt told KATU News his family is frustrated because they tried to warn authorities that he was becoming dangerous and unpredictable.
"I think this could have been prevented," said Vanhagen's aunt Cheryl Jordan. "I feel bad for these people and I'm also praying for them. "I'm just horrified as my sister is as well."
Jordan said her nephew moved to an Oregon City mobile home park after he lost his job in California.
"He can be a good kid. But when he goes into this, these rages, it's not good," Jordan said.
Passenger John Olechea said Vanhagen appeared to be intoxicated when he got on the bus but was calm and appeared to be talking to his girlfriend on his cell phone. 
Then, Olechea, who is Caucasian, said Vanhagen uttered a racial slur at him and punched him in the head near his right eye. "He was getting off [the bus] and he punched me for no reason," he said. He was not seriously hurt.
Once off the bus at the bus stop, police said Vanhagen got in a fight with a man who had been on the bus. Police said Vanhagen then got back onto the bus and that was when another passenger and the driver got involved.
The two men who tangled with Vanhagen were each stabbed five times, police said. A third person was bitten in the scuffle and the driver was stabbed once in the stomach.
Police eventually arrived and twice fired stun weapons at Vanhagen to get him under control.
Olechea said the attack on himself and others was unprovoked. "I think he was way wasted," he said. "He couldn't even walk when he got on" the bus but was calm and talking on a cell phone before the incident began, Olechea said.
Olechea said the only person on the bus who did not get hurt was a female passenger. He also said he was friends with the driver and was worried about him.
The driver, who has not been identified, had surgery early Wednesday morning, TriMet said in a statement released Wednesday.
The Transit Police Division gave video from the bus to Oregon City Police. TriMet said it would not release the video during the ongoing investigation.
Derek Taylor said he was getting off work when he came upon the scene while people were being taken away by an ambulance. "He just didn't look like he wasn't all there," Taylor said after seeing the suspect immobilized while being taken away on a stretcher.
"It's kind of scary, I could have been on that bus, you know," Taylor said.
Vanhagen is in custody at the Clackamas County Jail and is initially charged with three counts of assault II, three counts of unlawful use of a weapon, one count of Intimidation and one count of assault IV. He lives in an area close to Oregon City, police said.
Statement from TriMet:
TriMet is greatly concerned whenever an employee or any passenger is assaulted on our system. We know that the entire TriMet family shares their concern for the operator’s welfare and for a speedy recovery. We also share our concern for the welfare of the passengers that were also wounded in the assault. This is a tragic incident.
Our operator had surgery early this morning, and our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family. Due to HIPAA, we do not have any further information on his condition.
We are working closely with the Oregon City Police Department as they lead the investigation into the assault on Line 33 last night. The Transit Police Division has the video from the bus and they are providing it to the Oregon City Police Department to assist in the investigation.
We are not releasing the operator’s name at this time in respect for the family.
The video is part of an active criminal investigation and not releasable at this time.
No other information is available for release at this time. Our statement will serve as our comments on this issue, and we will not be providing any interviews at this time.
http://www.katu.com/news/national/Man-admits-killing-wife-2-kids-wifes-mom-over-bounced-check-172574401.html
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I'll bet there is nothing in this guy's background that would have prevented him from being a gun owner if he had chosen that as his weapon of choice. Before he snapped, he probably could have been civ's poster boy for the ideal cwp holder.
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Instead, he's my poster boy. Listen up civ, brendan, ralph and all your cwp cronies. THIS is what I was referring to when I said you are more likely to be killed by family than a stranger and more guns don't make anyone any safer. This guy was especially depraved and didn't mind getting in close with a knife. Not everyone has the stomach for that and might think twice if a knife is the only weapon. But a handgun? - it's so much cleaner and neater and easier to use, even the less depraved are likely to pick one up in a fit of anger.
 @ormom Oy vey, still with the speculation. Only you could take a situation involving a knife, and use it against guns, rofl. It's called slippery slope. It's another logical fallacy. What, are you just going down the list of fallacies?
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Here's a tip: go research: the number of CHL holders in this state. Then go research how many have pulled out the firearm and used it. Then go find out how many of those were a mistake. Then tell me the ratio of owners to mistakes.
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We're not done. Next, do the same thing, and count how many were justified. What's that ratio?
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Extra Credit:Â Get the per cap number of people shot by police mistakenly, and the number of CHL holders who do so.
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There's a reason I'd trust a *stranger* on sheer odds alone, than a cop if someone *doesn't* need shot.
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Cops are allowed to make 'mistakes', citizens are not; citizens tend to think a bit more before pulling it out and firing it if for no other reason -- than it's a HUGE headache to deal with, even if you're justified.
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Here's the real bombshell about this, the part you haven't conceptualized yet and grasped.
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The technology exists (and has been used) to print out guns using a 3D printer. They work. They do not have serial numbers, they are completely untraceable as to owner without additional evidence. Handgun control is gone forever; trying to outlaw it now will be about as easy as outlawing printing off news stories from the web.
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Every criminal in the WORLD can now print out guns, and no one would know -- until they used them. While that creates one hell of an issue, the scariest part is, people are STILL trying to take guns and restrict them from lawful owners. I certainly do not have a solution to this, but the genie is out of the bottle; it's not going back in any more than nuclear weapons have or the Internet has.
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I do know one thing -- when every criminal has access to guns, the solution isn't taking guns from lawfully abiding citizens. It's the last thing you want to do.
After reading the posted arguments between several of the posting "geniuses" on this topic, I thank God I am un-civilised enough to not let such drival enter my head in a quick decision moment. I have been hit for no reason before by a drugged out freak (not on a bus, but on the sidewalk) and proceded to show the punk the error of his ways. I believe if someone starts randomly hitting people it is time for someone to step in and get their hands dirty. Not everyone should try; not all are cut out for this, and that is not meant as a slur. I believe in everyday heroes, but (as this episode proves) if you are going to get inolved, do so knowing two things: 1) Until it is over, you don't know the outcome, so be on your guard and expect maybe to get hurt; 2) once you are involved, there is no backing down.
There are so many of these mentally ill people running around since the Ragan administration decided they needed to be "main streamed." Given the frequency of attacks on innocent people and the demands now placed on police it may be time to reconsider institutionalizing. That may sound harsh but nearly every day  there is a story about some mentally ill person harming or killing someone. At least when they were confined they got their meds and were not able to harm the general public. There has to be something better than what we are doing.
I'm pretty confident that ANYONE who commits a crime has at least some kind of mental issue. Just sayin...
As a part-time TriMet driver, I would like to wish Leonard and the other people injured a speedy recovery.I pray for their health and well being.One of the greatest feelings for a driver is to feel the appreciation from our passengers
for the work that we do everyday.It is not an easy job.So, for all the passengers who have "had our back" while we operate the bus,I say thank-you.In this case, you may have saved someones life.Get well Leonard...You are a great man.
 @Stephen Fung There may not be a lot of them, but they are there. They will stand up to defend our fellow citizens, our *community*, every time.
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Some of us don't know how to just stand by, it is simply not our nature. Expecting the police to be everywhere every time is a pipe dream -- but citizens can be. We need more people willing to defend our communities -- but always in a lawful manner -- as leading by example is always the best way.
Um, bath salts.Â
OMG!!! Â Here we go......he had mental issues??? Â Give me a fricken break. Â This is becoming a joke. Â Now, every time we have an incident where someone gets shot...or stabbed...or hey, even bitten, there is a mental issue? Â The family will come out and say he/she is having mental issues! Â Hey people, we all have some mental issue, here or there...but, acting out on them is a different story. Â This young man was drunk and acted out his "mental issue" while being drunk. Â Why can't the family just come out and say..."He was drunk, he doesn't like people of different races and has an anger problem." Â Anyone else getting tired of this crap?
 @PD1202You will be hear more on "mental issues" it will drive you "mental"
another reason to get rid of trimet
@sortbait Because crazy/drunk/high people go away when there is no public transportation.
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Genius.
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He bit someone? That is actually kind of funny.
 @on shing dao Not if it were the one bitten right?
Not if he had certain diseases that can be transmitted from mouth to broken skin. Not funny whatsoever.
I wish the victims a speedy and full recovery. What a horrific event that just occurred in their lives. I applaud any bystander who has the courage to step in and try to help, even at their own risk, in the defense of others. Law enforcement is not always able to respond as quickly as we'd like and there's hope in a community when strangers look out for each other.
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@!!! Do you exect KATU to operate for free?  They get their revenue from companies who pay them to show ads.
I hope the guy did not have rabies. Â If he was high, then I believe he is culpable fully...no once Forced him into taking drugs if that's what did this. Â
If someone pulls the whole "mental health vs police" card, I'll get really upset! This is a major public safety issue.Â
 @washcomom If I understand your post correctly, there's no need to "pull" (play?) the mental health card because the police handled this incident correctly - they didn't kill him. Sadly, the race card must be mentioned, though: If this kid had been black he wouldn't be alive today.Â
"If this kid had been black he wouldn't be alive today"?
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What has his color to do with how the assault was handled? The LE handled this professionally it appears.
Now if he had been purple or pink no tellling what might have happened.
So for everyone giving kudo's to those involved and offering their wishes that someone would have had a gun...Did you notice this tidbit of news:
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"Once off the bus at the bus stop, police said Vanhagen got in a fight with a man who had been on the bus. Police said Vanhagen then got back onto the bus and that was when another passenger and the driver got involved."
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So did someone decide to play hero and get off the bus to confront this guy after he was already leaving the scene? If so, it sounds to me like this hero is the one who escalated the situation. Plan to see more of this if more people start carrying guns and playing hero.
 @ormomÂ
Nice try. I carry a gun everywhere and don't plan on being a hero. When I have a gun I try real hard to stay out of situations like this one. It's a mentality that you wouldn't understand since you have no experience in that area.
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Where have you been? There are over 147,000 law abiding Oregon citizens out there packing guns legally. This had been going on for decades and you don't see any shootouts at all with legally packing people.
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If you go to the grocery store the odds are excellent that at least 4% of the people there are packing a firearm.
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The bottom line is that because you don't trust yourself with a gun, you project that on everyone else. For me I don't even know I am packing a gun most of the time.
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 @RalphCramden  @ormom Not to detract from this interesting conversation, but I do recall a customer who had a CWP and was involved in a shooting at the Clackamas Fred Meyer a few months ago. I believe he was accused of trying to view another customer typing in her PIN at the checkout counter; it led to an argument and then gunshots.
@ormom @str1ngb3nd3r @RalphCramden When you have a scumbag that is stabbing an innocent , the gun becomes the hammer, the bullet becomes the nail , and guess what becomes the board??? center mass on the scumbag. Too bad there was no one on the bus to put this guy in the ground. I hope the driver recovers but a knife to the gut will take months to heal if he does not die of infection first.
@str1ngb3nd3r @RalphCramden @ormom Whyt am i not suprised that the one incident with the moron at Fred Meyer is brought up here??? That maggot has nothing to do with the rest of the hundreds of thousands of us who carry concealed every day in oregon.
@ormom@str1ngb3nd3r@RalphCramden
And when it is a nail, you're using the appropriate tool. Just because you may or may not like hammers, is no reason for everyone else to start using wrenches on nails.
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The argument isn't about the hammer, the argument is about if this is a nail or not. (I.e., your hammer argument is a Red Herring) If it's a nail, then it's valid. If it's a 1/2" nut, then there's gonna be issues. None of us yet know if it's a nail, nut or cotter pin.
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Appeal to tradition (argumentum ad antiquitam) â a conclusion supported solely because it has long been held to be true. ("Like the old saying goes") is a fallacy. You should really go visit those links I gave to avoid further embarrassment.
 @str1ngb3nd3r  @RalphCramdenÂ
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Not surprising. Like the old saying goes: When all you have is a hammer every problem looks like a nail.
 @RalphCramdenÂ
Are you a psychic? You seem to think you know an awful lot about me. You just might be dead wrong.
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Now where is Brenden when we need him to criticize your speculation? Hmmm...
 @ormom  @RalphCramden No clue where Brenden is.
 @ormomÂ
Nice try. I carry a gun everywhere and don't plan on being a hero. When I have a gun I try real hard to stay out of situations like this one.
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It's a mentality that you wouldn't understand since you have no experience in that area.
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 @RalphCramdenÂ
ROFL - it looks like my horrible 'insult' was removed. Did you have KATU do that or was it a sycophant?
 @brendan  @ormom  @RalphCramdenÂ
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Who was the coach who said: "Even when I am wrong I am right!"Â
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One of my best friends from high school is a retired police sergeant and in a lot of ways Ralph reminds me of him. Â (Incidentally, his eldest son, a retired Navy Seal, works for the CIA at Langley.) Just sayin.
 @ormom  @RalphCramden There's no secret about what Ralph and I do, and it's very simple, but never actually SEEN (because of its nature).
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We have simply learned when something we feel is irrational, or illogical, even though it may be our opinion, we tend to keep them to ourselves or explicitly state it is an opinion, and opinion only. We only appear to be right all the time -- in reality we've just learned to STFU when we know we might be wrong.
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Yes, you are losing the argument if you continue to treat your speculation as more valid than others - and here's the important part - jumping to a conclusion form it ("Plan to see more of this if more people start carrying guns and playing hero."). Your argument remains valid up to "So did someone decide to play hero and get off the bus to confront this guy after he was already leaving the scene?" and no further. Mentioning it as speculation is not wrong; following that speculation to a conclusion above all others *without cause*, and using it to SCARE people into something is very, very wrong: "Plan to see more of this if more people start carrying guns and playing hero."
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You're using unsubstantiated fear to make your point. Not something you should be proud of.
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Go Pro. Go Logic. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fallacies
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 @RalphCramdenÂ
I'm not losing anything.
I apologize for the insult but you seem to put yourself out as an expert on just about every subject, more than I find believable. But you do have your followers...
 @ormom Your most logical post yet. I like where this is going.
 @RalphCramden  @ormom Yeah, I was gonna mention the LEO background, but thought it better for you to do so, lol. I saw this coming a mile away. You rock Ralph :)
 @ormomÂ
Ah yes. Now to the insults. Typical of those losing an argument.
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Keep in mind that I worked the streets for 30 years and dealt with situations like this almost every week so I do have a little experience in these matters.
 @brendan
@brendan
 @ormom  @RalphCramden NICE! Pulled the ol' "Don't have a life/living in Mom's basement"; you're a real piece of work using ad hom.
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May I quote you from your comments on the Aloha shooting? "you choose to misdirect the discussion by citing only the data that you think proves your hypothesis."
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Yet, you do that again here, multiple times, even after being told so.
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HYPOCRITE. Busted.
 @ormom Did you stop to consider that the hero who 'escalated' the situation potentially prevented Mr. Van 'Lit fuse' hagen from causing more harm to someone else down the road?
 @str1ngb3nd3rÂ
To all above, it seems to me the smartest thing to have done is call 911 and let the police handle it. Maybe there would be 3 less people with stab wounds right now.
 @ormom  @Beurre I don't have to try and invalidate it, I already did :)
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But I do so love the cut off your nose to spite the face attitude of listening to the tone of an argument, and the inability to see straight enough to understand the logic is solid and unbreakable. Anything's better than cognitive dissonance, isn't it? I may or may not be a pompous E. asinus but that doesn't change, and never will, that I am right in my logic. The attitude is just a distraction to get you to not be able to argue rationally.
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Just because the world's biggest rectal opening is the one telling you 2 + 2 == 4 is never, ever a reason to believe that 2 + 2 == 4 is false. Facts don't get based on who is the messenger -- the sun will set in the west regardless of how badly you hate how I tell you that.
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The logic fallacies I accused of you stand. You have failed to rebut even one of them, nor have you chosen to acknowledge such errors. Your sole offensive tool was ad hom "Against the man"; which is basically a polite way to say "You name-called"; it's no wonder I remind you of your dad. You remind me of a child.
 @ormom  @str1ngb3nd3r  "it seems to me the smartest thing to have done is call 911 and let the police handle it"  This is the mindset that allowed a few people armed with box cutters to take over planes and fly them into buildings with thousands of people in them.  It is part of what is wrong with this country.  ormom, our children need to be taught to stand up for themselves and not allow those with evil intent to to terrorize our society.  Of course there is some risk in this, but the alternative, a place where the average man does not feel safe.
@ormom When seconds count, the police are just minutes away.
 @Beurre
Mine too - which is one reason I'm so easily irritated by the pompous and self-righteous hypocrites who are so thoroughly threatened by anyone else's differing opinion they have to try and invalidate it.
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I'm glad I will be well enough to go back to my gainful and productive employment tomorrow and I won't need the diversion of argument. And the KATU clique can go back to solving the world's problems from their Lazy Boys without my interference.
 @ormom  @brendan This is exactly how my dad always treated all of his kids!  He thought he had some heavenly right to talk about things, but when we talked, he could just treat us like we were being ridiculous or boring or common!
 @JustMeÂ
Time will tell. Maybe those of you who mis-read my post and felt the need to offer your knee-jerk criticisms will be as quick to come back and offer your apology if it turns out my guess about a 'hero' causing the problem was the right one. LOL, like that'll ever happen.
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No where in my post did I suggest that anyone should watch another being stabbed and do nothing, But that's what happens when people read with an agenda in mind - they see what they want to see.
 @ormom It would seem much more logical to assume that the one causing the problem OFF the bus was the same as the one causing the problem ON the bus. I didn't see anything in the article that said the passenger who was assualted off of the bus was 'playing the hero' as you so quickly pointed out. By the way, I could not possible sit back and watch someone being assualted and hope that the police arrive on time. I am the kind of person who WILL step in and defend another if need be. In fact, just did that a few weeks ago with a young woman who was being beaten by a man who turned out to be her boyfriend. Should I have just waited for police to arrive and hope she wasn't dead by that time?Â
 @PD1202  @ormom If using logic is being a buffoon, then so be it. Rather be a live lion than a dead jackal, so to speak.
 @ormom Again, you miss the point (and may I add completely). I am NOT speculating; giving *examples* of other valid speculations is not the same as *proposing* them as the only solution, which you did with "Plan to..."
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Speculation isn't the issue. Making conclusions, mongering fear (all the more worse for it being subtle) from unsubstantiated speculation is the issue. Try to stay on topic.
 @brendan  @ormom Wow brendan...let it go....you're starting to sound like a complete bafoon....
 @brendanÂ
so when you speculate it's OK. When I speculate I'm using flawed logic and hypocrisy. OKaaayyyy, now I get it.
 @ormom First, go cite it (I found yours, didn't I?). Secondly, when I do speculate, I say as much; when it's an opinion, I say as much.
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The flawed logic I am pointing out is NOT speculation or opinion.
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If your opinion is based on flawed logic, I will call you out. (I've even called Ralph out on the exceptionally rare occasion it happens, and as I've stated before, I'd *expect* him to do so to me - may I suggest you handle it at least as gracefully as he does?)Â Feel free to call out any logical fallacies I'm using.
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I welcome criticisms of my logic, it almost always withstands such scrutiny. Do you?
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(PS: Do I *Like* it happening? Heck no, it's embarrassing and isn't a great feeling; but I value education over me feeling 'hurt'. I do handle it gracefully as I can.)
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 @brendanÂ
I'm referring to YOU. As if you have never posted an opinion or speculation of your own.
 @RalphCramden
OK. Reading comp 101. If the guy who got off the bus was playing hero then no one was getting stabbed until he interfered. 911 could have been called for the guy that was hit in the head - and not seriously injured - as Vanhagen got off. There would have been no need for anyone to play hero and follow him out - if in fact that's what happened. I don't know if it was, but none of you know if it wasn't either. So save your self-righteous blather.
 @ormom I believe I stated it was you. What, in fact, are you referring to?
 @brendanÂ
Now who is being a hypocrite?
 @ormom Don't speculate until you know. I am not ignoring you might be right at all whatsoever; in fact, I've stated as such that it IS a possibility ('There are endless possibilities, all equally valid as speculation and speculation only'); you missed the point which was that it is only one of many, and there is no evidence that it is MORE likely than many others; it's time for you to read this:
http://d.facdn.net/art/two0wls/1305669798.two0wls_our-discussion.jpg
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Stop using speculation; start using known facts as presented.
 @ormom  @str1ngb3nd3rÂ
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Watching a guy stabbing someone while waiting for police to take the 10 minutes to arrive is not my style..
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You can do that all you want to. While you're at it why not take a cell phone video of the whole incident why you wait for police to arrive.
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I have to say that you have no clue on how long it takes police to arrive on stuff like this versus how long it takes to stab someone to death.
and there is an equally valid chance you are ignoring that I might be 100% right.
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Time will tell but I'm wondering why this violent guy was ever allowed back on the bus once he got off. Maybe it happened too fast for the driver to react or maybe the driver got involved and not only got hurt but endangered other passengers as well. Yes, there are lots of possibilites and some of them may show how unwise it is to fight someone rather than wait for police.
 @ormom  @str1ngb3nd3r Wrong. Is there not an equally valid chance that the driver would be dead? You're STILL using the same flawed logic that I pointed out previously, by ignoring all other possibilities.
 @ormom Nice conjecture. Do tell, what were all the other possibilities? It was his stop? The perp initiated it with the passenger who got off (and did nothing to provoke it)? The guy did it randomly in a drunken rage? Mad because he g/f was cheating on him? There are endless possibilities, all equally valid as speculation and speculation only; please don't act like *your* speculation is The One True One, and certainly don't go on to use FUD based on one of many possibilities.
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When you use fear ("Plan to see more of this if more people start carrying guns and playing hero,") it will eventually bite you in the rear. Using your logic, this statement is as equally valid: "Plan to see more lives saved if more people start carrying guns and playing hero."
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When you use poorly-formed arguments intended to Appeal to Emotion, you do not do your position any favor; in fact, you tend to cause more harm than good.
@ormom you're right. it's much better to allow someone to assault random people. just remember that if you get punched for no reason by some stranger some day. make sure to tell everyone just let it go. I doubt the guy that got off the bus saw a knife or he wouldn't have confronted this jerk.