LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A Las Vegas-area bus supervisor suffered critical injuries when police said a passenger stabbed him in the chest with a butcher knife at a transit station, the 8 News Now Investigators have learned.
As the 8 News Now Investigators first reported Monday, Xavier Whatley, 40, faces an attempted murder charge.
The stabbing happened around 12:30 a.m. on Monday, April 24, at the Bonneville Transit Center on South Casino Center Boulevard near Garces Avenue.
The victim, a supervisor with Keolis, a transportation company contracted with the Regional Transportation Commission to provide bus service, told a group of waiting passengers that a bus was on its way to pick them up, documents said.
In new documents obtained Tuesday, the 8 News Now Investigators have learned Whatley allegedly began yelling an obscenity and the supervisor asked him to stop. Whatley then allegedly stabbed the supervisor once in his chest.
Responding officers found Whatley hiding in some nearby bushes, they said.
Police later found the butcher knife, described as having a 10-inch blade, in a courtyard area, they said.
RTC declined to comment since the supervisor is a Keolis employee, a spokesperson said Monday.
“We are proud of the heroism and bravery demonstrated by our supervisor while on duty, and we are pleased to report that he is recovering well,” a spokesperson for Keolis said Monday.
Last Monday’s stabbing marks the latest high-profile incident on an RTC bus. In February, a 30-year-old man died after his accused killer stabbed him more than 30 times.
Speaking with the 8 News Now Investigators before the April 24 stabbing, RTC Deputy CEO Francis Julien said the agency was in the process of beefing up security.
“One incident is one too many and just like all the other transit agencies in the U.S., we’ve seen a spike in incidents, we’re basically a microcosm of what’s happening in the community,” Julien said, adding the service provided 41 million rides last year.
During Whatley’s initial court appearance last week, Judge Holly Storberski set his bail at $50,000. He remained detained at the Clark County Detention Center as of Tuesday.
In response to the 8 News Now Investigators’ reporting, Metro police’s Downtown Area Command tweeted, “We take this situation extremely seriously. LVMPD officers within our Downtown Area Command responded immediately to this call. Thanks to the dedication and zero tolerance for this kind of violence, the suspect was quickly apprehended and taken into custody without incident.”
