More Violence on Chicago Trains as Man Stabbed on Orange Line Downtown; Perpetrators Flee

Safety concerns rise among residents as authorities seek suspects in CTA train stabbing, victim hospitalized in serious condition

Chicago CTA site of stabbing early Friday morningPhoto byScreen Capture/Youtube Video [Creator]

CHICAGO - A man was gravely injured following a stabbing on a CTA Orange Line train early Friday morning in Chicago’s Loop, according to local police. The incident adds to growing concerns about safety on the city’s public transportation network.

The Chicago Police Department reports that the 32-year-old victim was attacked around 4:30 a.m. by two male suspects who wielded a cutting instrument, stabbing him on his left side. After the assault, the victim and suspects exited the train at Washington/Wells station.

Emergency responders transported the victim to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he remains in serious condition. Investigators have yet to determine the circumstances leading up to the attack.

Service on the CTA Pink Line was temporarily suspended between Polk and the Loop, with Orange Line operations also facing disruption. Trains began resuming shortly before 7 a.m.

Regular commuters voiced their concerns over rising violence on the CTA. "It has been feeling a little sketchier lately," passenger Amanda Raitenbach said. "There have been more incidents of people getting rowdy, into fights, and smoking on the train."

This stabbing follows a recent surge in violent incidents across the CTA system. Just days earlier, Chicago police issued a community alert following a robbery on a Red Line platform. Meanwhile, Rhanni Davis faces first-degree murder charges after allegedly shooting and killing four passengers on the Blue Line in Forest Park earlier this month.

Addressing the growing safety issues, CTA President Dorval Carter said, "If we want to fix these problems, we have to create an environment where people choose alternatives to crime. Public transportation is one of the ways you do that."

No additional injuries were reported, and detectives from Area Three are actively investigating the case.

The CTA has invested significantly more money over the past two years in an effort to decrease violence on the trains and in the stations, almost tripling its budget for security from $23.9 million in 2022 to $65.2 million for 2024. This year’s budgeted amount is the largest amount committed for security services since at least 2018. The amount spent, however, is likely to run even higher than the amount committed, as security related spending ran almost $12.5 million over budget in just the first six months of the year.

Yet despite this investment, violence on the CTA remains frequent and is higher than prepandemic levels, as today's stabbing and other incident such as the murder of four sleeping individauls just a couple of weeks ago demonstrate. Residents remain wary of riding the trains, and the smaller crowds of riders further decreases safety.