Finnish police officers fêted in Canada for subduing bus attacker

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“The police department of Vancouver wanted to make it public. The media frenzy came to us as a surprise”, said police officer Antti Karjola by telephone from Canada. He was one of seven police officers from Tampere who helped apprehend a disorderly man who had attacked a passenger and the driver of a bus in the city in British Columbia.
      The incident became public on Thursday when the media wanted to interview the men.
      The Vancouver police were coming to the hotel where the Finns were staying to thank them for their help. The event turned into a press conference after the media spokesperson of the Vancouver police invited journalists along.
      "At least two TV-channels showed up and journalists from the Vancouver Sun", reported Kartola.
     
The incident itself took place a week ago on Sunday.
      The ice hockey team of the Finnish police had travelled to the city on the Pacific coast of Canada to take part in the 2009 World Police and Fire Games, which involves 10,000 competitors.
      The Tampere police were in a van which had stopped in traffic. Next to it, going in the other direction, a bus stopped, and the Finns heard the sound of the bus's horn and saw suspicious things happening on the vehicle.
      “We saw the driver fall on his steering wheel, holding his head. A man ran out, and some of us went after him. The rest went to see if the driver was all right.”
     
A middle-aged man had assaulted one passenger and had then struck the driver when he sent out an alarm. The victims sustained minor injuries.
      As the driver appeared to be all right, the rest of the Finnish police officers ran off to join the pursuit of the attacker. He was caught and pinned to the ground after a couple of blocks. The local transit police soon showed up to deal formally with the incident.
     
The Finnish team were rather less successful on the ice: they were eliminated from the hockey tournament in the first round, and will return to Finland this week.


Links:
  Vancouver Sun Aug. 7th, 2009: Fight to the Finnish: Finland´s police hockey team halts assault on Vancouver bus driver

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