NEW YORK – An average bus ride turned deadly in the Bronx Sunday night.
Police say an argument turned into murder.
Police are still trying to figure out what led up to the fight between the passengers and catch those responsible.
As CBS2’s John Dias reports, an out of service MTA bus is the center of New York’s latest homicide investigation. The victim, police say, is 55-year-old Lamont Barkley of the Bronx.
Neighbors knew him to be a caring father of three. Many are in english over the news.
“That guy did not deserve that,” said neighbor Jimmy Pugh. “He was a nice guy. He didn’t bother anyone, never saw any problems from him. He was a family person.”
Pugh lives down the hall from Barkley and says recently Barkley’s family endured another tragedy. Coupled with this, it means his three children now have no parents.
“His wife just passed away, not long ago,” Pugh said.
Police say around 10 pm Sunday Barkley was riding on a BX19 bus when it pulled up to the intersection of East 149th Street and Gerard Avenue. An unidentified man and woman got into a fight with him. Detectives say the man then stabbed Barkley multiple times.
Barkley was pronounced dead at the hospital.
The stabbing comes as authorities are trying to crack down on transit crime but many commuters are questioning if the violence will ever end.
“It’s appalling and it makes people feel unsafe on the subways, the buses,” said commuter Alexander Knott.
“Things have gotten so out of hand lately,” one Bronx commuter told CBS2, adding incidents like this have her rethinking the city’s public transit system. “I don’t trust the bus… People’s tension is so high right now, so any little thing can break out into something big.”
According to the latest NYPD stats, transit crime is up almost 42% compared to this time last year.
Just last Thursday, three people were stabilized in separate subway attacks. Only one person has been arrested so far.
Over the weekend, there were several more attacks on the subway, including a teenager getting jumped by six men and stabbed.
“It scares me, it really scares me,” one commuter said.
“You hear on the news, always something going on. We need to be more secure,” another rider added.
When it comes to this latest fatal stabbing on the MTA bus, police have yet to make an arrest.
Anyone with information is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477)or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782)). You can also submit a tip via their website or via DM on Twitter, @NYPDTips. All calls are kept confidential.
John Dias
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