Man followed home from bus stop

Local police do not believe there was any cause for alarm

By Chandler Walter, Humour Editor

In a shocking series of events, local bus rider Pete Ryder had the fright of his life last Wednesday, after being followed home from his bus stop.

The follower in question is an unnamed, hoodie-wearing male standing around six feet four inches and weighing approximately 200 lbs.

Ryder said that the man had been staring at him on the bus the entire ride, ever since he had gotten on from the stop outside the restaurant that he works at. Ryder had avoided making eye contact with the suspect, but said that the man in question had moved seats to sit closer to Ryder half way through the bus ride.

“It was like he was trying to get close enough to smell me,” Ryder said. “It was so creepy.”

As Ryder left the bus, he stated in an interview to the RCMP shortly after the encounter, the suspect had gotten up and slipped off as well, though had previously made no intention that this was his stop until Ryder had motioned to get off.

“I knew something was off at that point,” Ryder said.

Ryder then proceeded to speed-walk the half-kilometre to his home, being too frightened to look back or make a confrontation, as the man towered over him by at least half a foot and could have been concealing a weapon.

“By the time I made it home and locked my door behind me I was practically sprinting,” Ryder said. “I had never been so scared in my life. This just really isn’t something that usually happens, right?”

Ryder immediately called 911, though was surprised by the response he received.

“They started asking questions about me,” Ryder said in an interview. “I was trying to tell them what this guy looked like, but they kept asking if I was drunk, or what I was wearing.”

The police investigation eventually was called off due to the man being too unidentifiable, but they gave Ryder a piece of advice to protect him from this ever happening again.

“Don’t ride the bus. You put yourself at risk by riding the bus. Don’t you know how dangerous riding the bus is?” they explained to him before they terminated his case. Wearing more layers of clothing to protect himself from potential knife attacks was another trick the police said would help end the problem, and they suggested that it was somewhat Ryder’s fault for making eye contact in the first place.