Mirna Soza Arauz, 66, pictured in a photo on the GoFundMe website, was stabbed to death on her way home on the Metro B (red) line in North Hollywood in the early morning hours of Monday, April 22, 2024. . Elliott Trammell Nowden, 45, was arrested. LA Metro's board considers adding security measures to its vast train and bus system Thursday, April 25, 2024 (Photo from GoFundMe)
In response to the unprovoked stabbing of a female passenger, the L.A. Metro Board on Thursday, April 25th, announced that facial recognition and weapon detection systems similar to those used at airports, casinos and concert venues will be installed at train stations and bus stops. It was approved to introduce the system.
The board unanimously passed a lengthy motion asking CEO Stephanie Wiggins to report within two months on the possibility of adding these devices to L.A. Metro's train and bus systems, as well as other security enhancements. I supported it.
Los Angeles County Supervisor and Commissioner Kathryn Berger said, referring to the stabbing death of 66-year-old Mirna Souza Arauz on a B Line train at Universal City Station around 5 a.m. Monday. “It was a shooting that exceeded that range,” he said. At Studio City.
Souza Arauz was stabbed to death in an unprovoked attack on April 22 while riding a train home in North Hollywood. She managed to get off the train at Universal City Station, 3900 Lankershim Boulevard, and was found on the platform with life-threatening injuries.
The suspect was arrested approximately 30 minutes later and identified as Elliott Trammell Nowden, 45. Nowden was charged with murder, but District Attorney George Gascón said the murder charge includes a special circumstance charge of robbery-murder.
Souza Arauz worked as a night security guard at Tommy's Hamburger Restaurant in North Hills. She was a mother of three children and a grandmother of four.
Nowden pleaded no contest in June 2019 to assaulting a passenger on a subway train, according to Los Angeles Superior Court records. Los Angeles City Council President and Metro Board Member Paul Krekorian said that after the 2019 attack, Nowden was prohibited from riding or boarding subway trains.
But Metro officials said there is no way Metro security or the various law enforcement agencies that patrol Metro's systems would have known about Nowden's ban.
“Earlier that morning, she was assaulted by someone who has a long violent criminal history and previous convictions for brutal assault,” Krekorian said at the rally. “The fact that this man was released early and was still at the scene to murder this woman is an absolute travesty that we cannot tolerate.”
Wiggins said Metro has begun working with partners Los Angeles Police Department, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and Long Beach Police Department to increase its law enforcement presence. “Clearly there are some gaps that need to be addressed,” Wiggins said.
As part of his motion, Krekorian asked Metro to work with the district attorney, county probation department and courts to inform them of the curfew notice.
Mr Berger, who initiated the motion, asked Mr Wiggins to report on locking the turnstiles to prevent people who do not pay their fares from boarding trains. Collect data about violent crimes on your system within the past 12 months. Determine whether there is a correlation between people who fail to pay their fares and violent crime, including homeless passengers.
In addition, Inglewood Mayor James Butts, a member of the Metro Board of Directors, added to the motion that Metro consider installing video cameras equipped with AI technology on train platforms.
The motion also included pursuing facial recognition technology to scan people on train platforms and bus depots before boarding. “When we see something in the shape of a knife or firearm, the video takes a picture and sends that feed along with the location information to our command center, which allows us to direct police resources to that location.” Butts explained.
Butts said the technology is being used in many European cities.
Janice Hahn, a Los Angeles County supervisor and Metro board member, said transit agencies are also looking at ways to scan weapons before they are brought onto trains and buses. Many directors said this may not be practical due to the large number of train station and bus station entrances.
Los Angeles County Supervisor and Metro Director Holly Mitchell said new law enforcement policies and procedures should follow the agency's anti-bias principles. “This is to ensure that any policing we do does not continue to disproportionately impact Black and brown people,” she said.
The attack was the latest act of violence to plague the metro transit system, even as overall crime has declined and ridership continues to rise.
Metro is Los Angeles County's lead transportation planning and funding agency, with a fleet of more than 2,200 buses providing more than 900,000 daily rides on six electric rail lines and 117 bus routes.
City News Service contributed to this article.
