Bystanders Tackle Stabbing Suspect At Oakland BART Station
OAKLAND (CBS/CBS SF) -- Normal service resumed on BART after a stabbing Saturday afternoon at he Coliseum BART station in Oakland.
The Coliseum BART station and the Oakland airport connector were closed for two hours after the stabbing happened at about 3 p.m.
Cellphone video captured a chaotic scene.
"We got in here, were walking from the parking lot, and we hear screams, just bloody murder screens," said witness Michael Bertilacchi.
Bystanders held down the stabbing suspect on the tile floor near the turnstiles.
"There's three dudes on top of one guy, they're kneeling on him and a BART officer that's in here trying to put cuffs on him."
Witnesses described the suspect as a tall, white man with a beard.
The stabbing happened close to the fare plaza in the BART station, according to Anna Duckworth, a spokeswoman for BART.
"There's blood everywhere, as you can see back there and there's a lady wearing a Warriors jacket and she's screaming and she's got blood all over her and they told us two people got stabbed in that amount of time," said Bertilacchi. "I mean 30 seconds."
The stabbing happened about an hour before tip-off for the final Warriors game of the regular season.
Trains did not stop while BART police investigated and a bus bridge was set up to get people from other stops back to the Coliseum.
Three victims were involved in the stabbing but only two were taken to the hospital and their condition is unknown. The other victim had superficial wounds, according to Duckworth.
"We had to walk all around and through.. general confusion," said one couple heading to Oracle. "It's a little scary for sure we have to be more on our guard as we're walking around."
Police have not released the suspect's name, or any information on a motive.
Warriors fans used to taking BART to the game to avoid traffic on Interstate 880 said despite Saturday's incident, they feel safe at the station.
"There's always police officers here from OPD," said Candace Gee who was heading to the game. "I always feel safe and they have the K-9 unites hers. It's relatively safe, nothing has ever happened to us all these years.