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2 stabbings along Metro system again highlight safety concerns By City News Service
T
he Metro transit system was again dealing Tuesday with fallout from a pair of violent attacks, with a boy stabbed on a bus in Glendale and a woman stabbed at a train station in South Los Angeles. Two boys were arrested in connection with the first stabbing, which targeted another juvenile aboard a Metro bus around 7:05 p.m. Monday near West Los Feliz Road and South Central Avenue in Glendale. According to various reports, three juvenile suspects approached the victim, a teenage boy, and attempted to steal his backpack. The victim was stabbed during the attempted robbery and the suspects ran away from the scene, but officers from the Glendale Police Department caught two of the suspects. A search was continuing for the third suspect. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department was handling the investigation
Metro train. | Photo by Alistair McMillan CC BY-SA 2.0 DEED
of the stabbing, according to the Glendale police. About two hours later, a woman was stabbed at
a Metro C (Green) Line station at South Vermont Avenue and the Glenn Anderson (105) Freeway.
The victim was taken to a hospital in unknown condition, and the suspect -- a man wearing all black
-- got away by boarding a westbound train toward Hawthorne, authorities said.
The attacks are the latest incidents of violence plaguing the Metro transit system. The spate of violence included the fatal stabbing of a woman aboard a train in the Studio City area last month and a series of attacks targeting bus drivers -- prompting many of them to stage a "sick out" last month to demand more security. Metro's Board of Directors on April 29 approved an emergency procurement declaration to speed up acquisition and installation of protective barriers for drivers on about 2,000 buses due to the "sudden, unexpected increased severity of assaults on operators." The board also pushed for a review of other potential safety improvements, including an examination of measures such as securing all transit station entrances and exits, increasing security cameras on the system and making use of facial recognition technology.
USC closes amid protests at Shrine Auditorium for Pomona College graduation By Joe Taglieri joet@beaconmedianews.com
H
undreds of pro-Palestine demonstrators went to the relocated Pomona College graduation ceremony Sunday at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, prompting the adjacent USC campus to close. A now weeklong protest encampment on the Pomona
College campus led to the venue change for 2024 graduates. At least one person was arrested Sunday after a "group of protesters charged at the responding police officers, and one protester attempted to strike an officer," according to the Los
Angeles Police Department. The Shrine is across Jefferson Boulevard from USC. Shortly before the 6 p.m. graduation ceremony, USC announced closures were in place on Royal Street at Jefferson. The protest received a sizable response from the
LAPD, resulting in confrontations with demonstrators that included shoving matches and water bottles thrown at officers, according to published reports. Police arrived in the area around 5:30 p.m. where "protesters attempted to block the entrance of the
venue from the Pomona College students and their guests," according to the LAPD. Officers attempted to push the protesters back from their former positions and declared the gathering an unlawful assembly, KCAL News reported. Last week Pomona
College officials announced the commencement would move to the Shrine Auditorium, which is about 40 miles from the college's main campus in Claremont, after pro-Palestine protesters set up an encampment in the See USC protests Page 28