Incident On Bus Departing From Fort McMurray Leads To Man’s Arrest

An incident on a bus that departed from Fort McMurray is being investigated by police.

The Mounties say early Friday morning, around 12:25 a.m., they received a call via Edmonton Police Service that a bus driver was being threatened by a man, armed with a broken beer bottle.

The suspect reportedly was not allowing the driver to stop the bus as scheduled.

The bus was on route to Edmonton from Fort McMurray.

Once near Edmonton, the suspect directed the driver to change routes and head north on 97 Street towards Gibbons.

Several patrol units engaged with the bus when it was located along Highway 28 by Morinville RCMP.

Fort Saskatchewan and Redwater RCMP were alerted and responded as the bus travelled on Highway 28 and then turned on Highway 831 towards Bruderheim.

Police say the bus was being driven in a way that no other traffic on the roads was in danger.

The RCMP Emergency Response Team was activated and a crisis negotiator contacted the suspect over the phone.

Around 1:50 a.m., the suspect agreed to get off the bus, as it pulled over in Smoke Lake RCMP jurisdiction and police took the man into custody, without incident.

The bus was redirected to Fort Saskatchewan RCMP detachment where resources were in place to take statements and conduct interviews with the bus driver and nine passengers.

No one was injured as a result of the incident.

The 35-year-old suspect is in custody at Morinville RCMP Detachment and police continue to investigate.

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