BELLINGHAM, Wash. — Bellingham Police sent out an email today, May 19th, detailing an incident on a Whatcom Transportation Authority (WTA) bus yesterday that resulted in a passenger with stab wounds and another arrested for assault.
According to the email, a rider on a WTA bus travelling on Old Fairhaven Parkway, realized they were not heading downtown and got angry. The driver pulled the bus over to let the rider off and they appeared to be departing the bus. But, instead, they pulled out a knife and stabbed another rider 4 times. The injured rider fought back and was able to put distance between themselves and the other rider to flee the bus to safety. Other riders and the bus driver made it off the bus safely as well leaving the knife-wielding rider on the bus alone.
Bellingham Police Department (BPD) officers arrived, established a perimeter around the bus and shut down traffic on Old Fairhaven Parkway. The bus was disabled to prevent the assailant from being able to drive it away.
Members of the BPD Crisis Negotiator Team were called and were able to convince the assailant to step off the bus and surrender peacefully.
The victim went to PeaceHealth St Joseph Medical Center for treatment of non-life-threatening hand and leg stab wounds.
The assailant, identified as LaKisha Annette Bolden, age 44, was arrested and booked into Whatcom County Jail by BPD officers for suspicion of 1st degree assault and remained in custody without bail as of today, May 19th, according to jail records.
Discover more from Whatcom News
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.