HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) – A man who stabbed two passengers in a rampage aboard a casino-bound tour bus was shot to death on Interstate 95 by a Connecticut state trooper, who accidentally shot a third passenger, authorities said Wednesday.
The mayhem on the Dahlia bus carrying about 24 passengers from Chinatown in New York City to the Mohegan Sun casino in southeastern Connecticut began around 10 p.m. Tuesday, state police spokesman Lt. J. Paul Vance said. The bus driver pulled over in a highway construction zone in Norwalk and flagged down a state trooper on duty at the site.
Several people on the bus called 911, and the trooper was aware of the situation before confronting the man, Vance said.
As the trooper approached the bus, the suspect and a passenger “were engaged in physical combat, rolled off the bus and onto the pavement of the highway,” Vance said. The man, who has not been identified yet, also intentionally injured himself, Vance said.
The trooper was forced to open fire when the suspect came at him with a “cutting instrument” and refused to drop the weapon, Vance said.