On Monday night, two 17-year-old girls were attacked by a man wielding a machete at the Suntran bus stop at Grant and Campbell, almost right in front of Bookman's. One of the girls was cut up and beaten, suffering lacerations and fractures to her skull while her friend tried to protect her. The man was wearing a black and white bandanna over his face and fled in a white car.
As if this story were not disconcerting enough for the average person who rides the bus, the police failed to report it to the general public. Only through a tip from the public and then careful investigation did one of the local papers get the information and release it. The police's response was that it was not a homicide, and they don't make a practice of reporting assaults. Really? Not even such a vicious assault that was probably intended to be a homicide? Not even something so notable because of the use of a machete, the age of the girls and the populous location?
An opinion article in the Daily Star explained that the police make a practice of censoring information and choosing which stories to provide to the paper and which to suppress. It's shocking to me that the TPD would allow other women to ride the Suntran for 3 more days, totally oblivious to what had happened. Also disappointing is the Suntran's reaction and comment that because the attack didn't occur on Suntran property, it had nothing to do with them. Each bus is equipped with 4 cameras, but once you're on the street, you're on your own.
What is central to this problem is that someone was seriously injured by a man who was intending to harm or kill her, and Suntran and the TPD can't seem to pass the buck fast enough. Now I have to decide whether I feel safer waiting for the bus in Midtown or taking my chances in traffic on my bike. Is there no safe way home?
Post script: The TPD believes they have arrested the man responsible for the machete attack. He attempted to rob two other people, who recorded his license plate number when he fled.
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