Sound Transit passengers raise safety concerns after Beacon Hill attack

BEACON HILL, Wash. — Police believe they found the man who viciously attacked a couple in their 60s at the Beacon Hill light rail station late Thursday afternoon.

Seattle police originally said witnesses told them the suspect escaped on the northbound light rail track after the attack.

Both victims have been taken to Harborview Medical Center.

KIRO 7 spoke with a witness who saw the attack.

“I saw a tall man walking around with a red hammer just walking around and being very aggressive,” Tomas Velasco said.

That man allegedly attacked the couple, seriously injuring one of them, but the chaos didn’t stop there. Valasco said the man threatened him as well.

“And say ‘You better get in that elevator before I kill you.’” Velasco said.

Sound Transit passengers say more security is needed at every station, especially after an attack of this nature.

“Or ‘Hey, you can’t be walking around with a hammer?” Aaron, who uses public transit daily, said.

And passengers like Aaron say this attack paints a much broader picture of how public transit operates altogether.

“When you have a massive volume of people, especially flooding into the cities, you have to like help them make a decision about what is best for the high volume of people,” Aaron said.

Sound Transit says as of August, 10 attacks have been reported this year. Spokesperson John Gallagher also tells KIRO 7 they have signed multiple new contracts with security companies to have more guards on site, adding more than 200 transit officers since May 2022.

“You know, safety is our top priority at sound transit,” Gallagher said.

And while sound transit says attacks like this are rare.

“That is not to minimize them when they do happen. We do take them very seriously,” Gallagher said.

However, passengers believe more can be done to stop the violence.

“And I am just sick of seeing stuff like this,” Velasco said.

Non-profits by this station like El Centro de la Raza already have security in place. They sent KIRO 7 this statement in response to the attack:

This is a very sad and disheartening incident, we wish the best for the people that were hurt. As a non-profit organization providing services to the community, El Centro de la Raza serves many vulnerable people including hundreds of children and seniors on our Beacon Hill Campus daily. El Centro has employed a security guard during the day to help ensure that people being served as well as the families that live in the affordable housing on site are as safe as possible and we are working to bring on more security in the evening. We also do our best to share resources and information with people who are in crisis to get help.

On Oct. 14, the Seattle Police Department said they arrested a 39-year-old man for assault in connection to the incident.

He was booked into the King County Jail.

SPD also said detectives think there are more witnesses. If you have any information call SPD’s Violent Crimes Tip Line at (206) 233-5000.

If people see something odd or dangerous on Sound Transit, they can call or text 206-398-5268 to report it.

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