Aaron Cole: Las Vegas man arrested for stabbing passenger 33 times as bus driver continues journey
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Aaron Frank Cole, allegedly stabbed and killed his co-passenger in a moving bus. The victim, Dominique Lucas was stabbed 33 times while both rode an RTC bus in Las Vegas on Sunday, February 26. The 30-year-old pleaded with the bus driver to stop and let him off, however, the driver continued to drive on the route for another couple of minutes before the bus stopped at an intersection. After the incident took place, the driver got off the bus.
The entire incident was captured by the security camera installed on the bus. The two passengers had an altercation which turned into a fatal attack. “I wasn’t bothering you,” Lucas is heard saying in the video. After that, he went towards the front entrance of the bus and said, “Let me off.” Cole can be seen on the video reportedly stabbing Lucas several times and then going back and occupying his seat again, as per the Mirror report.
READ MORE
'Is it protocol to help someone out when they get stabbed or injured?'
Apparently, several other passengers were sitting on the bus and watched the attack without intervening, as per 8 News Now. The footage shows how Lucas struggled to stand up and pleaded with the bus driver to let him out. The bus driver then activated the panic button and talked to a dispatcher. Many people were disturbed to see the driver's late response to the shocking incident. During the trial, when the driver was questioned by one juror, he simply asked, “Is it protocol in regard to helping someone out when they get stabbed or injured?" “For the driver to help?”. “Yes,” the juror replied. After that he confirmed by asking, “Physically?” the driver asked, to which the juror said, “Yes, for the driver to help physically."
'The first priority is your own safety'
The driver further said: “Not that I know of. I mean, the first priority is your own safety, so I’ve got to make sure I’m safe enough to operate that bus for the other passengers also.” The accused was in jail ten days before carrying out this attack, in a case related to carrying a deadly weapon and concealed weapons on a bus. He was let go after he was ordered not to contact the victim. The driver is still employed after the court decided not to suspend him.