NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — A woman died after being stabbed at a WeGo bus stop in South Nashville early Friday morning, sparking safety concerns among community members.
According the Metro Nashville Police Department, the preliminary investigation indicates 42-year-old Roy L. Gardner sat next to 38-year-old Jamesha L. Jackson on a bench at a bus stop near the intersection of Harding Place and Antioch Pike.
Officials said surveillance video in the area showed Gardner and Jackson getting up from the bench as the bus pulled up to the stop at approximately 5:15 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 15. However, after Jackson gathered her belongings and started to approach the bus, Gardner allegedly started stabbing her.
Jackson's screams caught the attention of people in a nearby parking lot, authorities said. The witnesses reportedly tackled Gardner and held him there until law enforcement arrived.
Jackson was rushed to Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC), where she died, according to police. A memorial has already been set up at the bus stop in the Nashville woman's honor.
"You don't really expect it, but apparently people are getting more aggressive in this area," said Nashville resident Jeff Harrington, who works near the scene of the stabbing.
This news comes less than two weeks after voters approved Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell's "Choose How You Move" transit plan. A key piece of that project puts an emphasis on WeGo security upgrades and 24/7 bus service.
Back in May, there were two separate stabbings involving WeGo. On May 20, a woman allegedly stabbed a WeGo bus driver in East Nashville. Then, on May 30, authorities said one man stabbed another man at a WeGo bus stop in the Edgehill area.
"Times are changing because you can't be on the bus stops a lot of times...You have to watch your surroundings," said Kevin Lewis, a WeGo bus rider.
Since the transit referendum aims to get more people to ride the bus, what security can you expect to see moving forward?
A spokesperson for the mayor's office told News 2 there's potential to have a transit-specific police force, similar to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Conversations about it are ongoing, but money is set aside for it.
In the years to come, there will also be improved signage and lighting in bus stop waiting areas, especially larger ones. In addition, 285 new shelters are set to be built so riders can be spaced out more at stops.
Some residents told News 2 they've noticed a change in the area, and Friday morning's incident was evidence of that.
"I grew up over not too far from here, so I've seen a lot of changes and so forth," Leigh Shacklett, a Nashville native, said. "There's a lot more violence. You never know where, when, and a lot of it's in broad daylight, so it's getting kind of scary actually."
Meanwhile, the suspect in Friday's stabbing -- who was carrying a Florida ID card and has arrest histories in Florida, Georgia, and Alabama -- was injured during the citizen arrest, so he was also admitted to VUMC, according to officials. Gardner is reportedly being guarded by police and will be booked into jail for criminal homicide once he's released from the hospital.