LAPD, Long Beach police will soon patrol Metro stations

KOREATOWN, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The Los Angeles and Long Beach police departments will soon have officers covering Metro stations, which is good news for riders in Koreatown after a man was stabbed to death at the Purple Line platform.

It was a busy Monday afternoon outside that station near Wilshire Boulevard and Normandie Avenue. There were no signs of the violence that had erupted Sunday night on the underground platform.

The 62-year-old suspect hasn't been identified, but he is being held on $2 million bail and is accused of murder.

Detectives said he got into an argument with the victim, who had just gotten off the train, and then pulled out a knife, stabbing the victim several times. The victim has yet to be identified.

The sheriff's department, which currently patrols the Los Angeles Metro system, saw the attack on its surveillance system.

"The incident was being monitored by employees who put out a call to dispatch. We had people on scene within four minutes of the dispatch, followed by L.A. city fire and then the LAPD joined us as well," Sheriff Jim McDonnell said.

The victim died at the scene. The suspect was arrested later after he hid in a Carl's Jr. bathroom. The sheriff's department said violence such as the stabbing is rare within the Metro system, which is spread out over 1,200 square miles.

Now that the LAPD and Long Beach police will be covering the stations and routes within their areas, it should mean faster response times, according to a recent study.

"We're proud of the efforts that we've been able to make. Crime is down on the lines while it's up in the areas around. So I think we've been able to achieve good results over the last couple of years," McDonnell said.