Bus ambush ‘directly related’
to Festival Village stabbing
PHILIPSBURG--Monday’s shocking ambush of a school bus on L.B. Scott Road was linked to a stabbing incident outside the St. Maarten Festival Village early Sunday in which a man was almost killed, police investigations have revealed.
The school bus was carrying more than a dozen Milton Peters College (MPC) students when it was blocked and battered with a barrage of rocks on Monday.
Information reaching the police immediately after the incident and subsequent reports from students indicated that the attackers had been “looking for specific persons” living in Dutch Quarter, police spokesman Chief Inspector Johan “Janchi” Leonard told The Daily Herald Thursday. The ambush has “direct relation to the stabbing that took place outside the Festival Village,” he said.
The attackers targeted a bus that was taking students to Dutch Quarter, expecting to find the person they believed had stabbed local man J.J.M. right after the Carnival Last Lap Jump-up on Saturday night. The group of attackers is believed to have come from Philipsburg, police noted.
Meanwhile, police have stepped up their patrols in the St. Peters/South Reward school district in their bid to stave off any planned retaliation by students.
Leonard said police planned to be much more visible in the school districts and would maintain their presence outside at least one secondary school to keep the peace. Police patrol units will also be escorting particular school buses to their destinations, to stave off gang-related violence.
