Man accused of pulling knife on light rail passengers on morning commute

CHARLOTTE — A woman told Channel 9 she wants more light rail passenger protection after a man onboard threatened her with a knife.

Heather Smith rides the light rail into her uptown office a few times a week, but Wednesday morning’s commute proved terrifying.

“It was terrible,” she told Channel 9′s Hunter Sáenz.

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Smith got on the Blue Line at the Tyvola Road stop in south Charlotte, saw a colleague onboard, and started talking to him.

“And his eyes get really big and he kind of grabs me a little bit,” she said. “And I turn around and there’s a man right behind me with a knife.”

She said the armed man was threatening to kill her and others on the packed train, cornering them toward the front. Smith pressed the emergency call button and the train operator came over the intercom.

“The operator comes on, asks us what our emergency is, and everyone’s silent,” she said.

She said all of them were too scared to say anything because the man in front them was threatening them with a knife, so the train kept going.

“We’re basically riding the train for five minutes in fear,” she described.

A couple of stops later, Smith said they tried pressing the button again, but the same thing happened. So they ran off the train, scared and upset.

Smith believes more should have been done to protect riders when they pressed the emergency button.

“The train stops and it does not move until a security guard or an officer is there,” she said. “And if it’s not safe for the driver -- which in that instance maybe it’s not -- then we need to alert security and not move forward.”

“I will not ride that light rail any longer,” she added.

In an initial statement to Channel 9, CATS said a passenger on the train had called 911 to report the situation, leading to police and CATS responding.

But late Wednesday night, CATS clarified their initial statement.

An official with CATS says 911 was not called by a passenger on a train. They say the armed suspect got on the bus at the Scaleybark light rail stop. He started threatening riders onboard. At the next stop, at New Bern, CATS says a passenger got off of the train car that the suspect was in and moved to another one. Then, that passenger used the CATS See Say app to report the armed man.

The See Say app is a quick and discreet way to report suspicious activity directly to CATS Transit Police, according to the city’s website.

A CATS spokesperson says that the report alerted dispatch which then alerted CATS security who then started to respond.

The suspect then got off the light rail at the East-West station, according to CATS.

At the next stop, another passenger got off the light rail and pressed the safety button on the emergency tower on the platform. CATS security was then dispatched after the suspect was already off the train.

CATS says the suspect was then seen causing mischief off CATS property where CMPD was called. Police took him into custody.

The agency also detailed its emergency button procedure, saying rail operators are trained to ask about what’s going on over the intercom. CATS said passengers often press the button and don’t respond to the rail operator.

“CATS has implemented measures to enhance security across our system in recent months and continues to invest in our security personnel for the safety of our riders, employees and the community,” the agency said in part in their initial statement to Channel 9. “CATS takes incidents like this seriously. We are relieved that no riders, employees or community members were harmed. CATS has a layered approach to safety and security including the emergency call button onboard, 911 and the See Say App.”

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