Decapitation on Canada Bus

http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Cana...6-sun.html

It's an absolutely insane incident.

I'm inclined to ask, though - who's the craziest? The one man with the knife who randomly started stabbing the passenger, or the other THIRTY PEOPLE ON THE BUS WHO LET HIM DO IT?!?

I can't express how much I hate this sheltered thinking, where a situation occurs to a group of people and each one of them only has thoughts about saving their own skin - it's only ME here, I'M at risk, I have to get ME out of here - without realising that they're in a group that severely outnumbers the perpetrator.

If even the people in the seats immediately surrounding this guy - so that makes two in front, two behind, and the three rows on the other side - 10 people - grabbed him as soon as they saw the knife and realised what was happening, they might have stopped him in time to save the victim's life. Sure, a few of them might have been cut up in the process - but isn't it better to try? Isn't it better that a few people are injured than one person dying so horribly?

Society is nurturing selfish fucking cowards.

10:54 - Fri-1-Aug-2008 - post a comment

Here-here!

But then, that's what happens when parents molly-coddle their children for fear of them getting a sniffle or a single bug. Our species devolves into one of cowards and pussies and who don't have the first clue about how to deal with the real world.

bebbet - 11:12 - Fri-1-Aug-2008

I couldn't help but laugh when I heard it in the news this morning. I was having a pure moment of "that is just wrong, and my reaction is even worse".

dantesinferno - 11:14 - Fri-1-Aug-2008

And these people were applauded for their 'quick response' in getting everyone off the bus and trapping the guy inside. If only they'd taken their comeraderie a step further and just wrestled the god damn knife off the guy, y'know?

It's the same as the 9/11 attacks. From the four planes that crashed, only one of the attacks was intercepted by the crew and passengers and didn't reach its target of the whitehouse. There were several terrorists on each plane - 19 in total, so couldn't have been more than five or so per plane - and a WHOLE PLANE full of people couldn't stop them? Bullshit. Over 2,000 people died in those attacks because an aeroplane full of people isn't enough to bring down five guys with flick knives? Bullshit!

*angry*

WelshPixie - 11:16 - Fri-1-Aug-2008

heh sight is overloaded, I can read the newspaper report, heh.

I don't think I'm taking a greyhound anywhere soon tho...

sarai - 01:49 - Fri-1-Aug-2008

Just google 'Canada decapitation', heh. It's making the headlines worldwide apparently.

WelshPixie - 02:04 - Fri-1-Aug-2008

I was too busy reading about a shooting close to "home" for Styles and I...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080801/...n_shooting

sarai - 02:13 - Fri-1-Aug-2008

Yeah, I saw that. Eugh. Madness everywhere!

WelshPixie - 02:15 - Fri-1-Aug-2008

some of our family(his side) lives in Niagara.

Oh and I read a story or two about the bus attack, EWWW! stabs him, decapitates him and then disembowels him, WTF, some people are messed up...

sarai - 02:18 - Fri-1-Aug-2008

And a 17 year old British girl was found murdered and chopped to bits in Brazil. The police are still looking for her left leg and head.

dantesinferno - 02:22 - Fri-1-Aug-2008

In a suitcase, right?

WelshPixie - 02:24 - Fri-1-Aug-2008

What? The girl? I dunno, the article didn't mention.

dantesinferno - 02:28 - Fri-1-Aug-2008

http://news.aol.co.uk/bigstorynews/h...country=uk

WelshPixie - 02:33 - Fri-1-Aug-2008

Pfft... amateur. When will people learn, you want to make a body disappear, you need a blender with stainless steel blades. Takes a lot of time, yes, but when you pour that human slushie down the toilet, all is left is a bit of cleaning.

dantesinferno - 02:40 - Fri-1-Aug-2008

see i'm probably going to die being a good sumaritian some day. i know this.
my wife gets mad at me cuz my first impulse is to allways help. no matter what.

birdsnest - 03:16 - Fri-1-Aug-2008

Ew. Disturbing.

lunarfruity - 07:23 - Fri-1-Aug-2008

I understand the sentiment of "why did no one help" ... but frankly... none of us were there, and I wager the majority (if not all) of us have never been in a situation even remotely similar.

I don't think anyone REALLY knows how they'd react to suddenly hearing screaming, turning around, and seeing some guy calmly plunging a big ass knife into someone over and over again.

It's very easy for someone to sit in the safety of their home and rant about how they would have tackled the guy... but in reality, I think most peoples first reaction would be self preservation, making sure their friends/family got off the bus, etc.

Heroic? No. Human? Yep. Understandable? Absolutely.

To suggest that 10 or a dozen of them could have overpowered him... sure... but people aren't psychics... it's not like 10 people simultaneously develop a cohesive plan of how to deal with the attacker in a way that prevents him turning and stabbing someone else. Everything happens in a matter of seconds and instinct takes over.

Can anyone here say, with absolute honesty, that they would have been the one to run back, solo, and grab the attacker? Honestly?

This isn't fucking Hollywood where the hero can take a couple stab wounds to the torso and walk it off.

Encountering a psychopath suddenly, and without warning, slaughtering a random stranger, on a Greyhound bus, is NOT typical "real world", and calling the passengers cowards, pussies, and the likes, is incredibly narrow minded IMO.

mothman - 05:55 - Sat-2-Aug-2008

If the guy who was getting stabbed looked like he had a chance of survival, and I ran the other way, I don't think I could live with myself. I believe it's better to die trying than not to try at all, especially when what you're trying to do is save someone's life.

"but people aren't psychics... it's not like 10 people simultaneously develop a cohesive plan of how to deal with the attacker in a way that prevents him turning and stabbing someone else."

No - 36 of them simultaneously developed a cohesive plan of running in the opposite direction. That's the 'accepted' response. I'm amazed that so few people see something wrong with that, in a society that's so focussed on 'doing the right thing' and 'banding together to fight crime'. Unless something's been left out of the reports, which is entirely possible, nobody there was willing to risk themselves to save this guy - or maybe they were willing but they couldn't be sure they could count on other people to join in. That's what bothers me - that the 'normal and majority response' isn't 'quick, get him!!'; and yet we call ourselves humane.

WelshPixie - 10:55 - Sat-2-Aug-2008

Well, like I said... I can understand that sentiment, I just don't happen to subscribe to it.

I think the first response of the individual for self-preservation... and the response of a parent to save their child (including one mother who, apparently, literally tossed her kid through the air to get him/her to the front of the bus) ... is perfectly natural.

It wasn't a 'planned exodus' of 36 passengers... it was a panicked exodus of 36 individuals... who happened to all have the same initial response... get away from the psycho with a knife.

And I still believe (with all due respect) that even those who make claims that they would have immediately rushed to the victims aid might be surprised should they have the misfortune of being in a situation like this.

I firmly believe that the vast majority of "average" people would first remove themselves from harms way, and then some would consider returning to attempt aid (which is what happened in this case, with witnesses trying to re-enter the bus, only to be chased off... and at which time the victim was, by reports, long since dead).

You hear a gun shot... your first response is going to be to duck for cover... not to turn and run toward the gunman.

I believe it's a very rare person whose first, immediate, "un-thinking" response would be to jump in front of the bullet.

There are people like that out there, and bravo to them... but they are a rare specimen. I don't see that as condemnation of humanity, it's just the result of hundreds of thousands of years of evolution.

mothman - 09:37 - Sat-2-Aug-2008

if i was with my wife or family my first thought would be to make sure they were safe. the next thought would be to tackle and pummel the shit out of the other guy.

birdsnest - 02:29 - Sun-3-Aug-2008

One one hand, I think Moth's right: You can't blame humans for acting like humans.

On the other hand, it's pretty galling for a species-- arrogant enough to believe that they're better than every other species on earth-- to not strive to act for something greater than self-preservation. If people think they're so great, why don't they condition themselves to run to the aid of those that need them?

OgreJehosephatt - 02:41 - Sun-3-Aug-2008

"On the other hand, it's pretty galling for a species-- arrogant enough to believe that they're better than every other species on earth-- to not strive to act for something greater than self-preservation. If people think they're so great, why don't they condition themselves to run to the aid of those that need them? "

My point exactly.

WelshPixie - 04:30 - Sun-3-Aug-2008

To be honest, I'm not sure how I would have reacted. I've been trained to respond to certain types of catastrophes. If there's a fire or a flood, my first instinct is to go towards it and try to stop it. I've been trained to shoot people if necessary. Thankfully, while I've had experience with the first two, I've never had to do the third.

I don't know what I would have done. I'd like to think that I would have tried to help, but it really would have depended on my situation. If I'd been in there and my children had been with me, I would have ensured their safety, first.

texican - 02:03 - Tue-5-Aug-2008

I agree with Mothman 100%. You all should be thankful you've never been forced to discover for certain how you would react in that situation. A crazy person brandishing a knife is a whole different matter when it's right in front of you. Also, as I understand it, it happened very quickly. I'm sure a lot of people have never taken a Greyhound, but I have, and I can tell you, it's not as though people are sitting there all alert waiting for somebody to freak out and stab somebody. People were probably working on their laptops, reading books, taking naps.I defy to you to wake out of a deep sleep to a violent brutal murder and think of rescuing the victim. Shame on all of you for judging other people who have been put in a situation all of us are fortunate enough to be unable to concieve of.

Likewise, this is the second time I've seen someone say something to the effect that "I won't be taking Greyhound any time soon" as if this was some indication that riding the bus is inherently unsafe, which is stupid panicky behavior. If you're not going to take the greyhound, don't take the greyhound, but don't make it about this incident. Quite frankly, this guy could have flipped his lid and decapitated someone in the supermarket, at a little league game, or maybe even in their own home. To suggest that bus travel is somehow unsafe because some guy went nuts is ridiculous. To claim that AND claim that if placed in that situation, you wouldn't panic is just the height of self-delusion and narcicism. 40,000 people die in traffic accidents annually, and people take buses all the time. One guy goes nuts and everybody wants to talk about how unsafe the bus is.

'nuff said.

thedietcokeofevil - 04:45 - Tue-5-Aug-2008

"Shame on all of you for judging other people who have been put in a situation all of us are fortunate enough to be unable to concieve of."

I'm sorry - I should know better than to have an opinion that goes against the grain and to have courage enough to voice it even though I know it'll get lots of opposition. I forgot you and your high horse have the right to cast shame on all of us for having that different opinion.

WelshPixie - 09:03 - Tue-5-Aug-2008

I don't think it's so much an issue of freedom of speech, as judging others with no basis on which to base our opinion.

In that kind of situation, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't run and I'd try to do something about it, but none of us can say for sure until we're faced with such a situation.

bebbet - 09:10 - Tue-5-Aug-2008

Also, I'm not judging any of those people individually. They were reacting on impulse and impulse is a product of our upbringing and surroundings. Rather, I'm judging society as a whole for - as Ogre so brilliantly put it -

"a species-- arrogant enough to believe that they're better than every other species on earth-- to not strive to act for something greater than self-preservation."

WelshPixie - 09:13 - Tue-5-Aug-2008

WelshPixie - 09:48 - Tue-5-Aug-2008

LOL

That comic is brilliant. :)


Also, just to bring things back down to a grotesque level again... more news has been dribbling out about the attack...

Apparently the attacker, when captured, was found to have the victims body parts in his pockets... >_< Part of an ear, part of the nose, part of his mouth... in a baggie, in his pants pocket.

News reports have also stated that apparently the attacker cannibalized the victim in some fashion.

Finally... the attacker has said almost nothing in his couple court appearances, merely nodding, shaking his head... and the only words he's said was to speak to the judge, saying quietly "Please, kill me."

mothman - 10:56 - Wed-6-Aug-2008

I heard about the possible cannibalization. It's fascinatingly grotesque.

WelshPixie - 11:09 - Wed-6-Aug-2008