Transit Police seek more info on ‘terrifying’ violent altercation on SkyTrain

BURNABY (NEWS 1130) — Transit Police are looking for more information after a violent incident involving a group of teenagers on the SkyTrain on Friday.

It happened between Metrotown and Joyce stations around 6:30 p.m. A teenage girl was apparently attacked and had her phone smashed, and pepper spray was deployed. Transit Police say a young man had complained to transit officers about some teens vaping at the Metrotown SkyTrain platform, and when they saw him again on another train, there was some sort of violent altercation. No one was seriously injured and no charges have been laid.

Details are murky, and there is no video footage from the train. Transit Police say they are hearing conflicting stories — including “terrifying” events described in a Reddit post, which has now been up-voted more than 600 times — and are hoping other witnesses can come forward and provide more details on what happened.

RELATED: Police search for man suspected of attacking two teenagers on SkyTrain

Sgt. Clint Hampton with Transit Police says they think the group of teens confronted the young man who made the complaint when they saw him at another station.

“Between the Reddit post and statements we’re getting from witnesses as well as the female, there’s definitely inconsistencies there,” he says. “We know there was some form of altercation there but we’re not positive what happened.”

A woman claims on Reddit she saw a young man beat up a teenage girl on the SkyTrain, fighting around other passengers as she tried to get away from him. At one point, pepper spray was deployed, leaving the other terrified passengers coughing and gasping for air.

“This may sound dramatic, but I’ve never been in the presence of mace before and I genuinely could not breathe and thought to myself: “well this is it, this is how I’m gonna die,” she writes on Reddit. “He showed no mercy in his eyes, it was truly terrifying.”

She said passengers were screaming, crying and trembling in fear. When the train opened at the next stop, the train cleared out quickly.

“It sucks, all everyone wanted was a simple ride on the skytrain that day and nothing more,” she writes.

Random SkyTrain attack on teens in October unrelated

Police say Friday’s attack is not related to the man who attacked two teens seemingly unprovoked in October.

Sgt. Hampton says attacks on transit are rare.

“I think it’s natural for people to feel somewhat fearful, because you see two incidents in a short period of time,” he says. “However, I always like to re-iterate that these instances are very rare.

“The vast majority of people ride transit without any kind of incident like this, but we are obviously aware that they do happen, and any time that they do, we take them very seriously, and investigate them to the fullest of our abilities.”

If you have information, you can contact Transit Police at 604-515-8300 or text 87-77-77.