Man stabbed to death during fight on METRORail train near downtown Houston, police say

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- A man was stabbed to death during a fight on board a METRORail train on Sunday night near downtown Houston, according to police.

The Houston Police Department is still searching for the suspect. On Monday, HPD released surveillance images of the man they're looking for.

The suspect is described as a man who is possibly Hispanic, about 5 feet 5 inches tall, with dark hair. He was carrying a black backpack and wearing a dark windbreaker jacket and a ball cap.

HPD is offering a $5,000 reward for identifying the suspect. Anyone with information can contact the HPD Homicide Division at 713-308-3600 or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.

HPD said the deadly stabbing happened around 9 p.m. on the red line when the train was near the 1900 block of Main Street.

Investigators said two men were fighting on the train when things escalated, and one of the men stabbed the other several times. The suspect then got off the train and ran away, according to police.

Meanwhile, the victim stayed aboard, and other passengers let the conductor know what had just happened.

"Our victim stayed on the train and was on the train until they reached the platform here," Det. Diaz said. "There were some other passengers on the train that notified the conductor and notified them of the male that was injured and needing help."

The train came to a stop at a platform in the 4500 block of Main Street in Midtown, about two miles away from where it was when the stabbing happened.

When first responders arrived at the platform, they pronounced the victim dead from his injuries. On Monday, officers said the victim was a 53-year-old man, but provided no other information.

Unfortunately, HPD said the witnesses did not stick around to talk to police about what they saw.

Now, investigators are hopeful that some of them will come forward and help police track down the suspect.

METRO said these types of incidents aren't common, and it's a major crime that happens only once in 140,000 rides.

However, numbers ABC13 obtained show METRO assaults are on the rise. From January to October of last year, about 470 assaults took place. During the same period in 2022, there were about 390 assaults.

Because of the deadly stabbing, HPD and METRO plan to put more officers on the rail line.

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