17 replies to this topic

[AlanB]

An Amtrak train finally got rolling again at 1:20 a.m. early Saturday in western Michigan -- nearly 7 hours after being parked for a police investigation when a man stabbed three passengers and the conductor, according to authorities.

Details here.

[Sloan]

 

 

No fatalities reported in Amtrak stabbing that injured 4 in Niles; suspect from Saginaw in custody

 

NILES, MI -- A 44-year-old man from Saginaw is in custody after a stabbing on an Amtrak train in Southwest Michigan that injured four people, police said Friday night.

http://www.mlive.com...ed_in_amtr.html

[KevinKorell]

 

But about half of those got off the t rain in Niles and boarded a subsequent train that went only as far as Battle Creek, Evans said.

No train only goes as far as Battle Creek.  The line at Niles is shared with the Wolverines.  What they meant to say was that those passengers on 364 (the Blue Water) who were going to Kalamazoo and Battle Creek were able to take the next Wolverine (354), while those going to places served only by the Blue Water had to wait until their train was able to proceed.

 

And since the conductor was injured and no doubt could not finish the trip, surely at least part of the wait was for a relief crew.

 

I find myself a little skeptical about the photo of the "suspect" on the floor being held at gunpoint.  If that is a true picture, usually police won't allow people to be that close to a suspect during a felony arrest.  The person taking the picture could have been in the line of fire.  One of the articles said that people in that coach were evacuated, so what was this person doing tweeting out photos from aboard the train at that time?

[KevinKorell]

The train was further delayed once it got moving again ---- as it didn't arrive into Port Huron until 6:38 AM this morning (almost 7 hours late).  That's after the time it was supposed to leave westbound as 365.  It appears that the westbound run was cancelled since Amtrak shows no status for this train all day.    Today's 364 is operating eastbound close to schedule.  They must have deadheaded the equipment back to Chicago, and no doubt it will have to be cleaned of blood stains before returning to service.

[KevinKorell]

FOX News, 12/6/14: 

Police credited with saving lives in Mich. Amtrak stabbing

Police officers struggling to get through a chaotic scene aboard an Amtrak train in Michigan are being credited with preventing even more bloodshed after a man stabbed a conductor and three fellow passengers.

Update

[CNJRoss]

NBC News, 12/7:

Grandmother: Amtrak Stabbing Suspect Needs Mental Help

 

DETROIT — A Michigan man charged with attempted murder in the stabbings of three other passengers and a conductor aboard an Amtrak train needs psychological help, his grandmother said Sunday.

 

Ethel Williams, 89, told The Associated Press during a phone interview that her grandson Michael Williams was never the same after military service and that the 44-year-old

Saginaw man once told her "it seemed like everywhere he goes people was following him."

 

"They need to see what's wrong," Ethel Williams said "It had to be something wrong with that boy."

Continue here. 

[KevinKorell]

NBC Chicago, 12/6/14:

$1 Million Cash Bond Set for Man Charged with Amtrak Stabbings

 

A $1 million cash bail has been set for the man accused of stabbing four people on an Amtrak train leaving Chicago Friday, according to the Berrien County Sheriff's Department.

 

Michael Darnell Williams, 44, was booked on Saturday on preliminary charges of assault with intent to murder four times, according to NBC affiliate WNDU.

That story

[CNJRoss]

WOOD-TV, Grand Rapids, MI, 12/8:

Amtrak suspect: Had to fight a demon

 

NILES, Mich. (WOOD) — The man accused of stabbing four people on an Amtrak train told police that it started after a man he was talking to on the train “turned into a demon and he had to fight them,” according to court documents obtained by 24 Hour News 8.

 

“Michael Williams said he did not remember exactly what he did but that he did have a knife in his hand,” according to an affidavit for his arrest.

 

Continue here.

[CNJRoss]

mLive.com, 12/8:
 

Saginaw man accused in Amtrak stabbings is a veteran and 'the system failed him,' sister says

 

SAGINAW, MI — A Saginaw man arrested in connection with a quadruple stabbing on an Amtrak train was paranoid and running from people he believed were out to get him, according to his sister, who said she spoke with him by phone several times in the week before the incident.

 

SNIP

 

His younger sister, Tracy Williams of southeast Michigan, said she spoke with her brother beginning Tuesday, Dec. 2, and said she believes her brother was hallucinating and made him fear for his own life, prompting strange behavior as he tried to get to Saginaw.

 

Continue here.

[Sloan]

 

 

Man saves lives during amtrak stabbing attack

GRAND BLANC -- Were it not for the actions of Jim Ray acting on pure instinct, some say this story would have had a much different ending.

http://www.minbcnews...38497#.VJRE2A8Y