A stabbing at a Metro station near Universal Studios Hollywood has left one man hospitalized and authorities on a search for the suspect. The Los Angeles Police Department were called to the scene of the assault with a deadly weapon at around 9:45 p.m. on Tuesday, at the 3900 block of Lankershim Boulevard, as reported by FOXLA. The 34-year-old victim was found with stab wounds to his back and was promptly taken to an area hospital, the details of his condition remaining undisclosed.
Despite the dearth of information immediately available, the LAPD has since been able to provide a description of the suspect. The assailant has been described as a bald male, about 5-foot-10 with a mustache, weighing close to 220 pounds. He was last seen hastily pushing a cart with a speaker on it, as per authorities cited by CBS News Los Angeles. The timing of the incident was noted at approximately 10:20 p.m. on the Metro platform.
This attack adds to the increasing concerns over safety on the Los Angeles Metro system. In response to the incident, Metro released a statement stressing their commitment to safety. "Metro’s focus is on ensuring our system is safe for our customers and employees, even as our county works to address the drug addiction and untreated mental illness challenges that result in incidents like the one on our system last night," the statement said, as obtained by FOXLA.
Further intensifying the situation, Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn, who chairs the Metro Board, emphatically addressed the issue of weapon control on public transit. "It is my priority to keep our passengers and operators safe," Hahn stated. "We have to keep weapons off of our system. No one should be able to take a knife or a gun on our buses or trains. I am going to keep pressing this agency to get serious about keeping weapons off our system," her statement acquired by NBC Los Angeles. Her comments follow earlier incidents, including one in April where a woman was fatally stabbed on a Metro train, highlighting the urgent need for reinforced security measures.
