Source: Radio New Zealand
Police officers at the scene of an incident on Fenchurch Street in Glen Innes around 8pm on Monday. RNZ / Marika Khabazi
Shaken commuters may reconsider their use of buses in the wake of a second fatal stabbing in just over a year, a councillor says.
Police have charged a man over Monday night’s incidents on the 76 bus from Glen Innes that ended in the death of a 59-year-old man and serious injuries for a 51-year-old man.
Both the victims were stabbed.
It follows a similar fatal incident in Onehunga in October 2024 during which Auckland woman Bernice Louise Marychurch suffered multiple stab wounds.
Maungakiekie-Tāmaki ward councillor Josephine Bartley told Morning Report people could be deterred from catching buses because of fears over their safety.
Josephine Bartley Nick Monro
She had received many messages raising safety concerns this week and that was “understandable”.
She often caught the same bus around the time of the killing.
After giving some thought to using her car, she caught the same service the next day and observed it was empty. Bartley said she felt nervous and worried because the alleged offender was still being sought.
“The bus route was diverted … my bus stop was one of the bus stops the bus was diverted from because of the investigation [into the two stabbings].”
Public transport safety was a constant topic of conversation within Auckland Council.
She had asked at a transport committee meeting on Tuesday if it was time for transport police to be used and was told by Auckland Transport that some were already deployed, including on the No 76 bus service since the stabbings.
“There’s 13,000 bus services – they can’t have somebody on each one of those services.”
Other safety measures available included a text service (to 4030), CCTV monitoring, and panic buttons at bus stations, she said.
Bartley had decided not “to let fear take over” regarding travelling on the bus.
She said commuters were always focused on their phones but she appealed to them to be more aware of their surroundings.
“You can never know what might happen …”
In the wake of the tragedy, she said the community was trying to support each other.
The site had been blessed and flowers have been left at the scene.
A 36-year-old man is due to appear in the Auckland District Court today facing several charges.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
