Police say argument led to stabbing on TRAX train

The TRAX Crescent View Station in Sandy is pictured on Wednesday, June 24, 2020. An individual riding south on the Blue Line was stabbed in the Murray area and continued riding the train to the station.

SANDY — Police have arrested a man following a stabbing on a TRAX train Wednesday morning.

Sometime between 10 a.m. and 10:30 a.m., two men on a Blue Line train headed south got into an argument, said Utah Transit Authority spokesman Carl Arky.

That’s when police say Michael Caraway, 29, stabbed the other man multiple times near the Murray Central Station at 5300 South, he said. The victim stayed on the train for about 15 more minutes until the Crescent View Station at 11400 South, where he got off. The man was taken to a local hospital in serious condition, Arky said.

According to an affidavit filed in support of Caraway’s arrest, the attacker got off the train at Murray Central platform carrying a “very large knife.”

Police have arrested 29-year-old Michael Caraway as a suspect believed to be involved in a stabbing that occurred on a TRAX train Wednesday morning, June 24, 2020

The affidavit says the victim’s shirt had blood soaking through it in the upper left shoulder blade area and a laceration to his right hand, and told a responding police officer he was having a hard time breathing and was in pain. The victim told the officer the man started “attacking him for no reason.”

By 11:45 a.m. UTA reported Caraway was in custody for investigation of aggravated assault.

Caraway told police he was on the train talking to himself when he said something that might have offended another passenger, though it was a misunderstanding, according to the affidavit. Caraway said he was sitting down when the other passenger attacked him.

According to the affidavit, Caraway said he and the victim were scuffling on the ground when he saw a “knife go across the floor.” He said he grabbed the knife and stabbed the other passenger in self defense, the affidavit says.

A black knife sheath was located inside the front right pant pocket of the victim’s jeans, according to the booking statement.

“Mr. Caraway was seen standing and it appeared that the victim was initially sitting down before attempting to exit the train, with his bike as the doors open at approximately 10:10 hours. It then appears the two involved parties get into a scuffle, neither party exit the train and the train continues on Southbound. During the video I do not see them on the floor of the train,” police wrote in the affidavit.

Utah Transit Authority police vehicles are parked at the TRAX Crescent View Station after an individual riding south on the Blue Line was stabbed before arriving at the station in Sandy on Wednesday, June 24, 2020.