Why is allowing someone to be stabbed and beheaded considered "level headed" in Canada

Question

Royal Canadian Mounted Police Sgt. Steve Colwell praised the "extraordinary" level-headedness and bravery of the bus driver and passengers who let a man butcher and behead another passenger without stopping him.

is he praising them out of pity, or because they followed the law (defense of a 3rd party is illegal) or what exactly constituted bravery and level-headedness?

and i am not trying to bash canadians so don't hostile and defensive, just trying to understand an obviously very different culture.

Answer 1

I was thinking the same thing.  I can understand the passengers being shocked after seeing/hearing him get stabbed repeatedly.  But how can all 37 (I believe) passengers run out of the bus and ABANDON the victim?  Some may call it level-headedness, but I call it cowardly.  I can't believe at least one person did not try and intervene.

Answer 2

I read this article and was similarly confused. I think it was just a poorly written article.

I think he means they were calm in-terms of getting everybody off the bus, not having anyone else get harmed, and also keeping the murderer trapped so the cops could help.

I'm stll confused as to how someone gets decapiated on a bus though- stabbed to death, yeah, that can happen really fast - but..very distrubing. Couldn't at least deter that?

And yea, we cant say what we would do, but that doesn't mean there wasn't a right thing to do. you can't compare it to 9/11 either - the passengers had NO IDEA what the terrorists were going to do. The one flight where they did..they acted.

On that bus, there was no question a man's life was in the balance. you could've thrown your shoes at the man to stop him from decapitating the victim. I'm not saying they had to save his life or if that were possible. So maybe I would freak out and not help under the circumstances, that doesn't mean in the end I wouldn't feel like I made the wrong choice. It doesn't we can't hope and maybe even expect people to help.

Answer 3

I was also unsure whether "bravery" was the correct term for the other passengers, but "level headed" might be alluding to exiting the bus, the bus driver disabling the controls, and ensuring the deranged killer was kept in the vehicle.  I read that the guy who had been in front of the two had rounded up a couple of more people to go back and help once the other passengers were safe, but by that time, the victim was already decapitated.

There have been plenty of examples of true heroism and bravery in Canadian history, so it is not a question of a different culture.  While admittedly, I wondered if there might not have been someone that might have tried to help the guy out, but then again, we were not there.  People trying to justify that the victim would have already been dead are just avoiding the issue.

This is an unfortunate part of human nature (self preservation).  What also saddens me (not part of your question) is the ignorant backlash (also a sad part of human nature) - racial denigration, the excuse to bring back capital punishment, and circumventing due process of the legal system.    

Answer 4

The trucker, Bus driver and Garnet had the guts to at least go back in the bus and check on the guy. They also disabled the bus from starting up, that meant the guy couldn't get away. Imagine if the guy got away, people would be more worried then they already are.

Answer 5

well the thing is, is that are you really gonna get near someone who's holding a knife & scissors? i mean yes they could've helped, but if this happened in the u.s.a. i doubt anyone would help either.. it's just one of those kinda things.. plus it happened when everyone was sleeping & the man was screaming which is what woke the passengers up, so even if someone did try to help i still think the man would've died from the injuries. i think they should have armed security or something on the bus too, so if something like this does happen they can stop the criminals using a weapon.

it's just like if someone walked into a school with a knife or gun they have to lock down the school.. it like with the bus.. they had to get all passengers out.

Answer 6

It is very easy for us to pass judgement on the actions of the other passengers and the bus driver,especially when we are sitting in the safety of our home.Not one of us truly knows how we would react in a similar situation.I'm sure some if not all of the survivors felt they would be able to overcome their fears and react in a certain way.Hopefully we will not be put to the test.Someone commented that the other passengers did nothing to stop this and allowed this young man to be murdered.Let me remind you that when plans were hijacked in the 911 attacks only one plane had passengers that attempted to stop the terrorists.Canadians allowed their airports to be used for U.S. planes to land and the Canadian citizens extended their homes and resources to help the passengers.It is easy to pick one situation and make someone look bad.When you say that Canadians are a different culture ,you are right.We have a proud history of stepping up to the plate when needed. Canada entered WW2 before it had a personal stake in it, with a military force that has never resorted to drafting its members.Just because we are known as a nation of peacekeepers does not mean we are cowards.Any  hot head or dictator can cause a war,it takes real intelligence and bravery to keep the peace.Our citizens, for the most part, are honest and hard working people just like most Americans.Who am I to pass judgement on these people on the bus? Who are any of us?There was in incident in the States many years ago and a young woman was being attacked,she escaped her attacker several times and people could hear her pleas for help.A bus passed by and did not stop.The woman eventually died from her attacker.People never got involved even from the safety of their homes(they weren't in any immediate danger and yet they failed to call the police)