HADLEY — A 26-year-old woman allegedly threatened and attacked bus passengers with a knife, “slashing” two people’s throats on a Pioneer Valley Transit Authority bus Wednesday afternoon in Hadley, local police said.
The two injured people, along with the bus driver, were taken to Cooley Dickinson Hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening, police said.
At 4:12 p.m., Hadley police received a 911 call from PVTA dispatch services reporting that a passenger on one of their buses had pulled a knife and threatened passengers, according to a press release on the department’s Facebook page.
According to police, the caller said multiple passengers on the bus had disarmed the knife-wielding passenger, but were still struggling.
Police responded to the bus, which was stopped on Route 9 in the area of Friendly’s, and immediately took the suspect, identified as 26-year-old Brietta Brown, into custody.
Two passengers were cut and suffered injuries to their throats, according to police. The injured passengers reported that the suspect, Brown, had slashed both of their throats with the knife in an unprovoked attack.
Police said the driver of the bus helped disarm the suspect and received minor injuries to his hands with the knife. As officers arrived, the driver began to suffer from chest pain and police said he, too, was taken to the hospital.
Police said Brown will be charged with attempt to commit murder and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.
Hadley police said there was no other information available Wednesday night. Cooley Dickinson Hospital also said there was no information on the injured passengers available Wednesday night.
M.J. Tidwell can be reached at mjtidwell@gazettenet.com.