TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — A hatchet attack at a bus stop on the Eastside marks the second hatchet-related assault at a Tucson bus stop in the past two months.
Tucson Police say a man tried to steal a woman’s phone, and when other men at the scene tried to help, a hatchet fell out of the waistband of one of the men trying to fend off the attacker.
A witness, Amy, was there when the fight started, “they were all going at it, and all of a sudden there was a hatchet." Amy says she was the one the attacker approached first, thinking she was recording him. Amy tried to explain that she was not recording him.
Amy was born and raised in Tucson and has used public transportation for most of her life. “It’s not necessarily the buses that changed," Amy explains, "just the people have changed.”
Authorities say the attacker grabbed the hatchet and wounded two people, sending those two to the hospital.
“It sucks. It really does cause then it limits my work opportunities. It really puts a damper on everything. I don’t wanna take my kids on the bus," Amy says her trust in public transportation will never be the same.
Amy says she had a gut feeling that something bad would happen, “There was just a tone with the hollering, you knew. Like, you just knew. It’s like he was almost looking for a fight, and I know that’s messed up to say, but you don’t attack someone with a hatchet on accident.”
Police say the suspect is 42-year-old Frank Lopez. He was charged with two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and two counts of aggravated assault causing serious injury.
“I haven’t really slept because I started having very vivid dreams," Amy says, "I have things to do, and it’s hard to do it because I don’t even want to go outside."
Amy says she already avoids using the buses at night because she feels unsafe, but now, she is going to try to avoid taking public transportation as much as possible.
KGUN 9 reached out to Sun Tran, asking for a comment on the incident and if any new safety measures would be implemented.
This is an active Tucson Police Department investigation and Sun Tran is deferring to TPD on any media inquiries.
Despite the incident, Amy says the people who stepped in to help were heroic. “Yeah, we had one person that was hostile, but then you have so many others that weren’t, and other people tried to help, other people did stop.”
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Athena Kehoe is a reporter for KGUN 9, she joined the KGUN 9 team in July of 2024 after graduating from Arizona State University. Share your story ideas with Athena by emailing athena.kehoe@kgun9.com or by connecting on X/Twitter.
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