Passengers file lawsuit in Winnipeg bus beheading

[puckluck]

WINNIPEG - Two passengers who were on a Greyhound bus when Vince Li killed Winnipegger Tim McLean Jr. have filed a civil lawsuit against the bus company, the RCMP, the federal government and Li himself.
The passengers, Debra Tucker and Kayli Shaw, filed statements of claim in Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench on Wednesday.

Both passengers are seeking general damages in the amount of $1 million, "nervous shock damages" of $1 million and $1 million in special damages.
Li, a schizophrenic, has been housed at the Selkirk Mental Health facility since March 2009 after being found not criminally responsible for the brutal killing and beheading of McLean aboard a Greyhound bus west of Portage la Prairie, Man., in July 2008.

http://www.calgarysun.com/news/canad.../17303401.html


You'd think the families of the victim would be the ones filing the lawsuit not some passengers who never even seen the beheading.

Looks like a get rich fast plan.

[Russic]

Disagree completely. What makes you say they didn't see the beheading? According to the article you linked to they did.

There were various interviews with passengers on The Fifth Estate (aired last year I believe) who seemed irreparably damaged by Li coming at them with the head. I'm not sure if these two were part of the group that was at the door when it happened, but as far as I know they could all see what was going on. This seems like a situation that you wouldn't be able to fully grasp unless you were in it.

[puckluck]

Originally Posted by Russic

Disagree completely. What makes you say they didn't see the beheading? According to the article you linked to they did.

According to what article? definitely not the one I linked. They were in the bus when he stabbed the victim, but they were all out of the bus when he started beheading him.

I'm not saying that what they went through wasn't horrible, but how can you blame Greyhound for something that a crazed man did?

I witnessed a murder on the C-train about 6 years ago during the Stampede. A Native stabbed another native in the back and the blood that was gushing out the guys back was like a water fountain. There were at least 40 people who witnessed that and were shocked, but should they all sue the Calgary Transit?

There were various interviews with passengers on The Fifth Estate (aired last year I believe) who seemed irreparably damaged by Li coming at them with the head. I'm not sure if these two were part of the group that was at the door when it happened, but as far as I know they could all see what was going on. This seems like a situation that you wouldn't be able to fully grasp unless you were in it.

Still don't know how that is Greyhound's fault. They should be suing LI and LI only.

[WilsonFourTwo]

I get cheesed off with frivolous lawsuits as well. That said, I can kind of see the point to this one.

My initial thought is that $2 Million seems excessive, but who knows. Did it "break them"? Dunno.

Semi-related.....I remember an old WWI (yes, 1) vet that lived in my hometown. He was so broken by shell-shock that he spent almost every hour of his life in a ~200sqft shack on the edge of town. A mind can be a fragile thing.

[moon]

Hopefully they don't get a penny but it seems for if nothing else PR that these cases get settled and the idiots that bring the frivolous lawsuit forward get rewarded.

[Raekwon]

Maybe you can't hold Greyhound responsible but you are going to name everyone and anyone possible in the lawsuit to cover all basis.

Did you know that if you witnessed an accident, lets say someone plows down a pedestrian in front of you, you can claim against the driver for something like post traumatic stress.

Next time an ambulance drives by stop Vlad and ask him he will explain it better (just messing with you about the ambulance thing, kinda)

[mikey_the_redneck]

Originally Posted by puckluck

According to what article? definitely not the one I linked. They were in the bus when he stabbed the victim, but they were all out of the bus when he started beheading him.

I'm not saying that what they went through wasn't horrible, but how can you blame Greyhound for something that a crazed man did?

I witnessed a murder on the C-train about 6 years ago during the Stampede. A Native stabbed another native in the back and the blood that was gushing out the guys back was like a water fountain. There were at least 40 people who witnessed that and were shocked, but should they all sue the Calgary Transit?



Still don't know how that is Greyhound's fault. They should be suing LI and LI only.

The witnesses on the Fifth Estate said they saw him taunting police/witnesses with the head, parading around etc. They saw him eating pieces of the victim etc.

Nasty, ......I still don't understand why Li wasnt shot and killed.

That being said I don't really support the law suit.

[Russic]

Originally Posted by puckluck

According to what article? definitely not the one I linked.

From the article you posted:

... he mutilated McLean's body and displayed his "acts of deprivation" to passengers waiting outside the bus.

Originally Posted by puckluck

I'm not saying that what they went through wasn't horrible, but how can you blame Greyhound for something that a crazed man did?

You could technically take the stance that Greyhound offers no screening process for weapons of any kind. I see their point there. Not that I totally agree with them, but I see where they are coming from.

Originally Posted by puckluck

I witnessed a murder on the C-train about 6 years ago during the Stampede. A Native stabbed another native in the back and the blood that was gushing out the guys back was like a water fountain. There were at least 40 people who witnessed that and were shocked, but should they all sue the Calgary Transit?

I think these people would have a better case because technically screening Greyhound passengers is within the realm of possibility. The act you witnessed would require an unreasonable level of security to prevent. The Greyhound? Debatable. Truthfully I doubt Greyhound pulls the kind of money to purchase xray machines for all their stops across Canada. They could have done manual carry-on searches I suppose, but that opens up a can of worms in itself.

Originally Posted by puckluck

Still don't know how that is Greyhound's fault. They should be suing LI and LI only.

Suing Li won't do anything. He's a mental patient ... what would it accomplish? Suing the company could change business practices and produce a financial outcome.

[Coys1882]

Call me a cynic but I couldn't shake the feeling during that TV special that one of the people was really enjoying her moment in the spotlight.

[troutman]

I'm sure this event would have been mentally shocking, but I can't see how a bus-line could reasonably forsee that something like this was possible.

[moon]

Originally Posted by Russic

Suing Li won't do anything. He's a mental patient ... what would it accomplish? Suing the company could change business practices and produce a financial outcome.

What practices need to be changed though?

Are there any other cases of someone killing a passenger on a Greyhound bus with a weapon?

These two people want to get paid and realize that the only way to do that is to sue the big company that wasn't at fault at all.

It isn't about changing policies or making things right, it is about two greedy losers who want to get rich by doing nothing.

[burn_this_city]

Its logistically unfeasible to expect Greyhound to screen passengers for weapons. It would essentially limit the bus line to major centers with stations.

[puckluck]

Originally Posted by Russic

From the article you posted:

All that says is that he taunted them with the head, and that's not what I denied. I said they never watched him behead the victim.

You could technically take the stance that Greyhound offers no screening process for weapons of any kind. I see their point there. Not that I totally agree with them, but I see where they are coming from.

And you can also take the stance that Greyhound has never screened people before so everyone knew the risks involved on getting on a bus full of strangers. The same risk hundreds of thousands of people take every day taking Transit.

I think these people would have a better case because technically screening Greyhound passengers is within the realm of possibility. The act you witnessed would require an unreasonable level of security to prevent. The Greyhound? Debatable. Truthfully I doubt Greyhound pulls the kind of money to purchase xray machines for all their stops across Canada. They could have done manual carry-on searches I suppose, but that opens up a can of worms in itself.



Suing Li won't do anything. He's a mental patient ... what would it accomplish? Suing the company could change business practices and produce a financial outcome.

Well like you said it does open up a can of worms. What makes passengers on a Greyhound bus more important than passengers on a Calgary Transit bus? I don't think it's reasonable to search people getting on a Greyhound or any bus for that matter. If someone is that crazy nothing is going to stop them from doing something crazy.

[Locke]

What was Greyhound supposed to do about it?

Sue the mental hospital that let him out, or sue the guy himself (who likely has nothing as hes a mental patient) but really theres very little the bus company could have done.

It will be interesting to see how they twist this to be Greyhound's fault other than 'you shouldnt have let him on the bus' or 'you should have airport level screening facilities' or something of that nature.

[puckluck]

Originally Posted by mikey_the_redneck

The witnesses on the Fifth Estate said they saw him taunting police/witnesses with the head, parading around etc. They saw him eating pieces of the victim etc.

Nasty, ......I still don't understand why Li wasnt shot and killed.

That being said I don't really support the law suit.

Li wasn't shot and killed because the only person he was putting at risk was himself. The victim was long gone and the bus was empty by the time they got there.

What I don't understand is how the passengers were so close to the bus to see that he was taunting them outside the window.

If someone just stabbed a guy on the bus I am running and not looking back for at least a KM, not sit and wait outside the bus.

[Huntingwhale]

Wahtever happened to that Li guy? I heard he was on suicide watch last time I heard. Did he ever make it to trial?

[Phanuthier]

I was really disturbed watching Ratis Ivanans get KO'ed. I'm thinking about suing the Flames, and TSN for that too.

[Tyler]

Originally Posted by Phanuthier

I was really disturbed watching Ratis Ivanans get KO'ed. I'm thinking about suing the Flames, and TSN for that too.

Sue Darryl Sutter for signing him to a freakin' 2 year contract.

I'm still suffering from EMOTIONAL DISTRESS after that doozy

[valo403]

Originally Posted by Locke

What was Greyhound supposed to do about it?

Sue the mental hospital that let him out, or sue the guy himself (who likely has nothing as hes a mental patient) but really theres very little the bus company could have done.

It will be interesting to see how they twist this to be Greyhound's fault other than 'you shouldnt have let him on the bus' or 'you should have airport level screening facilities' or something of that nature.

It will be interesting, but that's the whole point of an actual trial. It blows me away how some people (not you Locke) seem to think that filing a lawsuit means you get paid. It doesn't work that way.

[Russic]

Originally Posted by moon

What practices need to be changed though?

Are there any other cases of someone killing a passenger on a Greyhound bus with a weapon?

These two people want to get paid and realize that the only way to do that is to sue the big company that wasn't at fault at all.

It isn't about changing policies or making things right, it is about two greedy losers who want to get rich by doing nothing.

I'm not saying it will change practices, just that it is probably one of the goals of the lawsuit. I'm with the other posters that are saying it's not feasible to change the current Greyhound system.

Originally Posted by puckluck

All that says is that he taunted them with the head, and that's not what I denied. I said they never watched him behead the victim.

We're going to have to agree to disagree on this one. I don't see how somebody taunting you with a head is a whole lot easier to take than the decapitation itself.

Originally Posted by puckluck

What makes passengers on a Greyhound bus more important than passengers on a Calgary Transit bus?

Nothing, but in court it would be easier to say that Greyhound could have done something than to say Calgary Transit could have done something. Two totally different volumes of people. Truthfully I don't think you can expect Greyhound to check everybody, but the courts could determine something different.