Two males have been arrested within the deadly stabbing this week of a 25-year-old aboard a Metro Blue Line practice in Lengthy Seaside.
Police on Friday arrested 18-year-old Akili Collins on suspicion of homicide and 19-year-old Melake Daniel on suspicion of performing as an adjunct after the very fact, in keeping with a information launch from the Lengthy Seaside Police Division.
The motive for the stabbing is underneath investigation. Police mentioned it might have stemmed from a struggle with the sufferer, Luis Fernando Polita of Los Angeles.
The assault occurred on the 1st Avenue station about 3:40 p.m. on Wednesday, police mentioned. Passengers on the practice alerted the rail operator that an individual was injured throughout a scuffle and wanted quick medical consideration.
Polita died en path to a hospital. His was Metro’s second confirmed murder in 2023, in keeping with the transit company.
Police are working to find out if there are different suspects.
Throughout a preliminary investigation, detectives decided three males boarded the practice in Lengthy Seaside and instantly started assaulting Polita. One attacker pulled out a knife and stabbed him a number of occasions.
The attackers fled the practice when it got here to a cease close to 1st Avenue and Pine Avenue, police mentioned.
The killing is the most recent episode of violence to hit the transit system, which has confronted rising crime and plummeting ridership for the reason that begin of the pandemic.
Earlier this month, two individuals had been stabbed at Metro Purple Line stations in separate incidents, police mentioned.
One man was attacked throughout an obvious argument in a practice on the Hollywood/Western station, police mentioned. Officers have arrested a 27-year-old man in reference to the stabbing.
One other man was stabbed on the Purple Line platform at the Westlake/MacArthur Park station. He was taken to a hospital for neck and torso accidents.
