'Just a great big brother': family IDs 17-year-old fatally stabbed on bus
CBC
Ethan Bespflug was the oldest of five siblings, loved his family, was hard-working, a good student and avid video game player.
On Tuesday, Ethan was fatally stabbed on a bus in Surrey. He was 17.
"He wasn't nefarious in any way, he wasn't out looking for trouble. He was a very good kid," his aunt, Andrea Van Der Gracht, said on the phone.
"This is tragic. This is a kid just going home from school, wanted to hang out at a friend's house, basically being slaughtered."
Van Der Gracht said on Tuesday night, Ethan was riding the 503 bus to meet his mother at King George Station. He had been out with friends. She was going to pick him up to take him home.
On that fateful ride, Van Der Gracht said, Ethan texted his mother that some other people got on the bus and were threatening him. He said he was scared.
Those would be the last messages he would send.
Surrey RCMP said the stabbing happened just before 9:30 p.m. PT near the intersection of King George Boulevard and 100 Avenue, near the King George SkyTrain station.
Police say two people had an "altercation" while riding a TransLink bus. TransLink said the incident occurred on Route 503 in Surrey, as the bus was heading eastbound away from King George station.
The injured teen was taken to hospital in critical condition and later died, RCMP said Wednesday morning in a statement.
The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) is working on the case alongside Surrey RCMP.
RCMP told a news conference they would be stepping up patrols — in conjunction with Transit Police — at transit hubs in the Metro Vancouver city.
The move is also being made in response to an incident on April 1 in which a man had his throat slashed while travelling on a public transit bus on the Fraser Highway. A suspect has been charged with four terrorism-related offences in the attack.
"We will be increasing our patrols," Surrey RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Vanessa Munn said during a media briefing on Wednesday afternoon. "We already do patrol actively … around transit hubs, but we're also starting a joint project with Transit Police just in light of the recent incidents that have occurred."
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