MIAMI – A 46-year-old man has been arrested for Tuesday’s deadly stabbing on a Miami trolley.
Lamont Collins has been charged with second degree murder.
The stabbing happened shortly before 3 p.m. near Biscayne Boulevard and Northeast 29th Street.
According to police, surveillance video from the trolley shows Collins standing in the front before the exit doors as Adolf Bruce, 49, walked toward him, also wanting to get off. When Collins noticed Bruce, police say, he charged him, telling Bruce to back off.
The two men then got into an argument and Collins pulled out a knife, according to the arrest report. On the video, the driver can be seen stopping the trolley in the middle of the road and then approaching them to de-escalate the situation.
At one point Collins reportedly screamed, “I’m not a coward, I’d rather die than go to jail.”
As the two men continued to argue, Bruce said “Let’s go, let’s go” as he got closer to Collins, according to the video.
“Both put their hands on each other and the defendant pulled out the knife again and began stabbing the victim,” according to the arrest report.
As Bruce backed away to the rear of the trolley, with his hands up for protection, Collins advanced on him, stabbing him multiple times, according to police.
When Bruce fell into the walkway, “the defendant stood over him and stabbed him several more times in the neck area,” according to the report.
Collins then noticed that the exit doors were open and ran off, only to be taken into custody a short time later.
Bruce was rushed to Jackson Memorial Hospital where he died.
Eyewitness accounts to the Miami trolley stabbing
A witness shot a cellphone video of Collins running from the scene moments after the attack, holding a knife in his hand, according to police.
In the video, another person can be seen standing outside the trolley’s door, appearing to call for help for the critically injured man inside.
Ricardo Sanchez, who works in the area, described seeing the immediate aftermath.
“I pretty much saw the guy dead on the floor. I don’t know if he was dead, but he was already on the floor,” Sanchez said. “At first, I’m thinking, ‘Oh, he got hit,’ because I saw a scooter too, right? But then I see all the blood.”
Brian, another witness who lives in the area, said, “I was walking by near where the crosswalk is and I seen that there was a book bag and a lot of clothes on the floor. Then, upon further inspection, there was lots of blood on the ground.”
Police are trying to determine what led to the argument between Collins and Bruce.