UPDATE: City Bus Driver in Custody for Stabbing Rider

Albuquerque –

The Albuquerque Police Department and Mayor Tim Keller were going to hold a press conference on the Zero Tolerance approach to crime in Downtown. But, it was purportedly canceled last minute because a City of Albuquerque bus driver was in an altercation that led to a fatal stabbing of one it’s riders. Instead, APD held an impromptu press conference at the scene of the stabbing.

According to APD, officers responded around 6:30 a.m. to reports that a bus driver stabbed a man off of the bus. The stabbing victim was transported to a local hospital after being stabbed but he died as a result of his wounds.

Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina said the bus driver was involved in some sort of altercation outside the bus with a passenger. The driver then followed the rider for about 40 yards near the Chevron at Coors and Iliff NW.

“The transit employee did produce a knife and stabbed the individual,” said Chief Medina.

While on scene, we saw a shirtless man with a goatee and chest tattoos in handcuffs being escorted to APD’s Mobile Crime RV.

Chief Medina did say there was not Transit Security on the bus during the time of the incident.

All CABQ buses are equipped with video and audio recording devices. Chief Medina did not know the policies of ABQ Ride employees regarding this incident.

“I don’t know the exact protocols of the bus of transit. But, I would suppose that it probably is out of protocol,” (the stabbing) said Chief Medina.

We reached out to the ABQ Ride spokesperson for comment on this incident and policies around employees carrying weapons on their person.

We will update the story if the bus driver is charged with anything related to this deadly stabbing.

UPDATE:

At 1:50PM, the City of Albuquerque sent media this statement:

“This morning we had terrible personal altercation that escalated into a tragic loss of life involving a transit employee.  Our hearts go out to everyone impacted by this loss of life, first and foremost the family of the deceased, the transit safety responders and also the bystanders who tried to help and were simply going about their morning commute.” Mayor Tim Keller said.

“APD is conducting a criminal investigation, and the Transit Department has launched an internal review into the actions of the employee involved. City Human Resources is fully cooperating with law enforcement, and we are committed to transparency and accountability to bring justice to what happened.”

“Our Transit Department’s highest priority is improving the safety and experience for all our riders, we understand this raises concerns about their efforts and have been working to make sure that all protocols were followed and safety measures were taken.”