A little true story: Five years ago, my son, then an 8th grade student at
Ramsey, decided to nip out of school early with a friend. They decided make
their escape via MTC #18 since it passed right by the school on Nicollet and
50th. They boarded and a block down the street a young man boarded the bus
armed, showed the weapon and threatened another passenger. The MTC driver
told the passenger to take cover and proceeded up Nicollet, stopping at the
regular stops and advising new boardees to take cover too. At about 35/36th
Street, the transit police showed up and when the bus stopped, the armed guy
simply left the bus and walked away down Nicollet. The Transit Police made no
effort to identify or detain him. When I tried to find out what had happened
and why, the incident report just mentioned a passenger "disturbance" but
made no mention of weapons or a suspect. If it weren't so scary, the
ineptness of the whole thing would be funny. Sounds like things haven't
changed much, what with these "routine beatings".
Ann Berget
Kingfield 10-10
