A CTA employee was stabbed around 3 p.m. at the Damen station in the 2000 block of West Lake Street on Chicago's West Side Thursday afternoon. ATU Local 308 identified him as Julian Mobley, although police had not released his identity. Mobley died at Stroger Hospital as investigators worked to piece together what happened.
According to FOX 32 Chicago, police described the altercation and stabbing, and ATU Local 308 identified the employee as Julian Mobley. Officials gave an update late Thursday afternoon.
Green Line Service Bypasses Damen/Lake
Green Line trains did not continue to operate normally after the stabbing.
Per NBC Chicago, Green Line trains were bypassing the Damen/Lake station in West Town just before the afternoon rush hour, with the outlet noting that starting around 4 p.m., trains were not stopping at the station located at 200 N. Damen Ave. A CTA alert advised riders to use alternatives and noted that bus shuttles had been requested.
Part of a Rising Pattern of CTA Violence
Thursday's stabbing adds to what has become a troubling trend for Chicago's transit system. Aggravated assaults and batteries on the CTA reached at least a 24-year high in 2025, according to a Chicago Sun-Times analysis, which found Chicago police recorded 469 aggravated assaults and batteries on the CTA last year, up from 441 in 2024. The paper reported that a new record for those crimes has been set every year since 2021.
The Chicago Tribune has separately reported that CTA worker assault rates were two to six times those at peer agencies. The CTA has said assaults against transit workers fell 25% in January and 29% in February compared with the six-month average before a law-enforcement increase implemented in December, though it is unclear whether that improvement held through the fall.
Federal Pressure Over Safety
The scrutiny on CTA safety has reached the federal level in recent months. The Federal Transit Administration gave the agency until March 19 to propose a revised safety plan or risk losing $50 million in funding, according to the Sun-Times report. Federal regulators have separately noted that the CTA's reported rate of assaults on transit workers has exceeded the national average of comparable transit agencies every year since fiscal year 2015.
Violence against CTA employees is not new to the system. In 2021, a 39-year-old man was charged after a CTA employee was stabbed and a Chicago police officer was injured on a train platform in the Loop, the Sun-Times reported at the time. More recently, CWB Chicago reported that prosecutors said Eduardo De Jesus stabbed a man who intervened during an argument involving a CTA employee at the Western Blue Line station.
Other recent incidents underscore the strain on transit workers. WGN reported that a CTA employee was stabbed in the neck while washing a platform at a Loop train station after a woman became upset and approached him, and he was transported to Northwestern Hospital in fair condition. CBS Chicago has also reported that at least two CTA employees found themselves at the center of crimes on the Blue Line within the span of a single week.
Police were looking for a male suspect and had described his appearance and clothing. No motive or arrest had been announced. Hoodline will update this story as police and the CTA release more information.
