Four stabbed on Amtrak train in Michigan, suspect in custody

[December 06, 2014]  (Reuters) - Police took a suspect into custody in Michigan on Friday after four people were stabbed aboard an Amtrak passenger train in the town of Niles, police and Amtrak officials said.

None of the victims was killed, a dispatcher for the Niles Police Department said. Authorities declined to provide any immediate details about the circumstances of the stabbing or the condition of the victims.

Niles, a town of about 12,000 people, is about 10 miles (16 km) north of South Bend, Indiana, near the southeastern shore of Lake Michigan.

Amtrak said the incident took place on Train 364, the Blue Water line, which runs between Chicago and Port Huron, Michigan, while the train was at the station in Niles. It said 172 passengers were aboard at the time.
 

The company gave no details of the incident, but said in a statement a person was in custody and that the Amtrak Police Department was assisting in the investigation.

The Chicago Sun Times newspaper quoted a Twitter user who said four people were stabbed in the rail car next to his and who uploaded a photograph of a man in a gray jacket lying in handcuffs on the floor of the train.

"Crazy world we live in. Some man just stabbed 4 people one car away from me on the train," said the user, @Chris_Maynard.

Amtrak said the company was working to arrange alternate transportation for the passengers.

(Reporting by Daniel Wallis in Denver; Additional reporting by David Bailey in Minneapolis and Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by Sandra Maler, Robert Birsel & Kim Coghill)

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