Muni's J-Church train where woman was stabbed Monday Morning

Police talk to witness about stabbing on Muni's J-Church Train Monday

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- Investigators say the man who stabbed a woman on San Francisco MUNI's J-Church line Monday morning may be the same person who stabbed an eleven year old boy on the 49-Mission line in September.

"We can't actually at this point link the crime that happened to the eleven year old boy on September First to this particular crime right now but what we can say, I do believe, is that there are similarities of the suspects are very close," San Francisco Police Sgt. Wilfred Williams told KRON 4's Dan Kerman "The similarities would be the bad body odor, the black sweat jacket or sweat coat, the knit cap, and also the age range."

Authorities say the man walked up to a 20-year old woman sitting on the light rail train at about 10:40 a.m. Monday and stabbed her as the vehicle crossed Market Street on Church.  Witnesses say the man walked away then returned and attacked the woman again.  No words were exchanged prior to either attack, authorities say.  The attacker then left the train and remains at large.

The train operator wasn't aware of the attack until the vehicle got to 18th street.  The train then stopped so that an ambulance could take the victim to the hospital.  She is expected to recover.  

This attack comes almost exactly a month after a suspect matching a similar description attacked a boy on the Mission bus.  The child was critically wounded.  That attacker also got away.  A camera on board that 49-Mission bus wasn't working.  Sgt. Williams says there was a working camera on the J-Church train but that the quality of the image is poor and needs to be enhanced.

KRON 4's Kate Thompson spoke with many MUNI passengers who weren't surprised that another person was stabbed on a train.  These attacks are raising growing questions about safety on board the San Francisco transit system.

Stay tuned to KRON 4 and KRON4.com for the latest developments on this story.

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