BART Stabbing Suspect John Lee Cowell Arrested For Killing Nia Wilson

The Bay Area Rapid Transit stabbing suspect, 27-year-old John Lee Cowell, was taken into custody at Pleasant Hill BART station in California on Monday night.

The man, who fatally stabbed an 18-year-old girl and wounded her sister at the MacArthur BART station, Oakland, on Sunday was found aboard an Antioch-bound train. Bay Area Rapid Transit Police Department did not release any additional information regarding the arrest but said he was not armed when arrested.

A manhunt was underway for him after authorities reviewed footage from surveillance cameras at the scene.

The motive behind the attack is yet to be determined however, BART Police Chief Carlos Rojas said though there is no evidence suggesting the attack was racially motivated, it is not ruled out.

"In my close to 30 years experience, [it was] probably one of the most vicious attacks I have seen," he said in a press conference Monday.

Nia Wilson, 18, and her sister, Lahtifa Wilson, 26, boarded a BART train at Concord Station in California on Sunday night while returning from a family function. Cowell also boarded the train from there, and all three got off at MacArthur Station where he reportedly approached them and slashed their throats with a knife. He then fled from the scene.

Officers arrived at the scene around 9.30 p.m. local time (12.30 a.m. EDT) and found two women suffering from stab wounds. While Nia succumbed to her injuries at the scene, her sister was taken to a nearby hospital and was in stable condition as of Monday afternoon.

"It's more reminiscent of a prison yard assault where you have an individual with a sharp object or a shank and they do their attack so quickly that before anybody can really react, the person takes off running," Rojas said.

"I want justice for my daughter. I work at Highland Hospital and I see this every single day," Ansar Mohammed, the father of the victims said. "I never imagined myself going through nothing like this. That's my baby girl up there."

“The senseless and violent stabbing of two young women on a BART train platform last night has shaken our community,” Libby Schaaf, the mayor of Oakland, said. “Every parent who saw the father of Nia Wilson grieve for his daughter is heartbroken by this horrific act," The New York Times reported.

Cowell, who stands 5 foot, 8 inches tall and weighs 190 pounds, has committed several criminal and traffic-related offenses and was recently cited for fare evasion.

The fatal stabbing happened just a day after a 47-year-old man, Don Stevens, was punched in the head at Bay Fair Station, California. He fell on the platform, hitting the cement platform. He was rushed to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. No arrests have been made in the case as of now.

“One week we can carry two million people and be extremely safe, but what happens in our community bleeds into our system and we have to deal with that too,” Alicia Trost, the BART spokeswoman said.​