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LOS ANGELES – A security guard was stabbed and a suspected trespasser fatally shot near a Metro station in East Hollywood Tuesday, the latest in a string of violent incidents prompting safety concerns over Los Angeles‘ public transit system.
Officers responded to the Vermont/Sunset station near Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital on a report of a stabbing, which turned into a shooting call, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
An investigation revealed a Metro contract security guard encountered a trespasser in a restricted area of the station. This resulted in an altercation between the two, officials said. The security guard used pepper spray to subdue the suspect, who in turn stabbed the security guard in the leg. That led up to the guard shooting the suspect, officials said.Â
The guard was taken to the hospital where he remains in stable condition. The suspect died at the scene.
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This incident is just the latest in a wave of violent attacks reported on bus drivers and passengers.
Back in April, there were three separate attacks on Metro buses in the span of a week. In one of those attacks, a Metro bus driver was stabbed while driving his route in Willowbrook.Â
Following those attacks and the death of a woman who was stabbed on the Metro B Line subway in Studio City, Metro officials expedited efforts to acquire and install protective barriers for drivers on thousands of buses, while also exploring other safety upgrades throughout the system.
However, this precaution is already being questioned after a LADOT bus driver was attacked in South Los Angeles on Sunday – and it was all caught on camera. In that assault, investigators confirmed the suspect was taken into custody and the bus driver did not require hospitalization.Â
On Friday, Metro bus drivers participated in a sick-out in response to concerns about their safety on the transit system.
LADOT operates solely in the city of Los Angeles, while Metro services the entire county.Â
(source)