There have been talks about putting up shields for drivers, but Callahan would rather see an entire redesign of buses that puts drivers in an enclosure.
Callahan said that's partly due to undercover officers who started riding buses that year and intervened in some disputes.Ĭity officials have said they plan to meet with the union to discuss ways to improve bus safety.īuses are already equipped with surveillance cameras, GPS systems and emergency buttons - something Callahan said Fraser didn't have a chance to push. The number went down to 45 assaults in 2016. Statistics released by the union show there were 60 assaults on Winnipeg transit drivers in 2015, a jump of 54 per cent from the previous year. The couple lost a daughter a few years ago, he said.įraser's death marks the first time a Winnipeg bus driver has been killed during an assault and not in a traffic accident. Callahan and others with the union visited his widow Tuesday to offer condolences and drop off sandwiches. When the confrontation spilled outside, the driver called for help.Ĭolleagues have described Fraser as a popular guy who planned to retire next year. "When the operator attempted to wake him up, he didn't know where he was, where his buddies were, and became agitated," he said.Ĭallahan said another bus had stopped behind Fraser's, but because most buses don't have rear windows, the driver couldn't see what was happening inside Fraser's bus. The others got off at a different stop and left him sleeping, said Callahan. John Callahan, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1505, said the passenger was with a group who had been drinking. Michalyshen couldn't say if the passenger had been sleeping or was impaired at the time. The suspect was arrested trying to cross the frozen Red River near campus. A scuffle continued outside and the driver was stabbed multiple times in the upper body. He said the passenger walked to the front of the bus and the driver escorted him off. "Sadly, things just escalated from that point." many, many times to exit the bus, that (it) was the end of the route and it was time to exit," police spokesman Const. Police say driver Irvine Jubal Fraser had finished his route at the University of Manitoba in the early hours Tuesday. He has been in and out of custody and was last on probation in November. They are often the front line of the public’s anger against authority.WINNIPEG - A man who allegedly fell asleep on a bus and, when roused, refused to leave has been charged in the fatal stabbing of a transit driver.īrian Kyle Thomas, 22, of Winnipeg is facing charges including second-degree murder, possession of a weapon and failing to comply with a probation order.Ĭourt records show Thomas has convictions dating back to 2012 for crimes that include weapons offences, assault and robbery. “The transit community is understandably outraged,” he said. Both the Crown and defence are asking there be no chance at parole for 12 years.įraser’s death prompted calls for increased safety measures on Winnipeg buses, including safety shields for drivers.Ĭrown prosecutor Paul Girdlestone said the killing has left other drivers and their families terrified. Second-degree murder carries an automatic sentence of life in prison. “My brother Jubal was a good man and deserved to go home to his family.” “Jubal never deserved what happened,” said another brother, Tyler Fraser.
#Canadian bus driver stabbed to death trial#
The defence did not present evidence during the trial but argued the bus driver provoked the attack. The driver then shoved Thomas off the bus.
Part of what happened was captured on security cameras that show Thomas asking the driver where he was and if he could use a phone.įraser told Thomas to leave the bus several times before the driver grabbed the man by the neck of his sweater and bent him over backwards. “It’s been 2 1/2 years and it still feels like it happened this morning,” Byard said Monday in his victim impact statement. Dean Byard told court Fraser was the oldest of four brothers in a close-knit family, and was a loving father and husband.
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