See more Toronto Sun on Google — save as a Preferred Source
A video posted online depicting a group of girls assaulting a pair of elderly GO Train passengers is sparking outrage. And according to the daughter of the elderly couple targeted in the video, Metrolinx staff responded with indifference when told of the incident.
The video, posted to Facebook on Sunday before going viral, shows a group of five teenage girls sitting in the vestibule of the Oshawa-bound GO Train carriage, while drinking vodka from a bottle and taking puffs from a vape.
In an interview with the Toronto Sun , Amanda — the daughter of the elderly couple who were seated in the carriage’s upper level — said her folks were aboard the 6:10 p.m. Toronto-to-Oshawa GO Train on Saturday when the incident took place.
“They were completely disruptive, being menaces,” Amanda said.
“They were pouring vodka on the ground, drinking vodka, vaping … just being very loud and disruptive.”
Incident escalated after Good Samaritan stepped in
A Good Samaritan sitting across from the couple approached the girls and asked them to be more respectful.
“That’s when things started to escalate,” Amanda said.
“Are you a man or a woman?” one of the girls shouts in the video recorded by Amanda’s mother.
“Yeah, or a transgender,” another girl shouts, while a third asks her to “get her good side.”
“You guys are just angry because I said ‘be respectful,'” the Good Samaritan says.
“Grow the f— up. Ignore us.”
That causes the girls to become even louder and more rude, prompting the elderly man to ask someone to call Metrolinx security.
“At this point, we’re being threatened,” he says as the girls in the vestibule continue shouting obscenities.
RECOMMENDED VIDEO
Woman hit in eye with jacket
One of the girls, a tall brunette wearing a black jacket and pink pants, climbs the stairs and uses a sweater to block the camera’s view.
She’s then joined by a shorter, heavier girl in a red shirt, who takes a hit from her vape before climbing the stairs.
“Walk away,” the Good Samaritan tells the girls before she’s struck on the hand by the girl in pink pants.
The girl in pink pants then whips Amanda’s mother with her jacket, striking her in the eye.
A second video not uploaded to social media but shared with the Toronto Sun shows the girl with pink pants tossing an empty vodka bottle at the couple as they were disembarking at Whitby Station.
Metrolinx employee indifferent over assault
Amanda said her parents contacted Metrolinx security by text, but said her father — who suffers from mobility issues — was hesitant to press the yellow assistance strip as he was concerned they’d be locked in a stopped carriage with the teens.
Upon arriving in Oshawa, Amanda said her parents approached a Metrolinx employee, who she said offered her parents no help.
“The lady there did not care at all,” she said.
Her parents filed a report with Durham Regional Police on Sunday.
Video of the girls soon went viral, racking up thousands of views and comments — including apologetic messages from a mother of one of the girls.
“I have more information about these girls then they probably want me to have,” Amanda said, adding that everything was passed on to police.
- Metrolinx investigating missing window on GO train
- U.S. tourist warns Americans after driving on Toronto-area highway: 'DO NOT DRIVE IN CANADA'
Commenters disgusted by display
The Sun made inquiries to Durham Regional Police, but they didn’t respond by Monday evening.
Metrolinx said protection officers received a text message about the incident and that an investigation is ongoing. Follow-up questions about the indifferent Metrolinx employee had not yet been responded to.
Comments online expressed disgust at the girls’ behaviour.
“Respect your elders!” wrote one commenter on Instagram .
“I would have put them in their place if I was there.”
Another said the people being harassed should have called for help sooner.
“Push the emergency button and get them off,” said another commenter.
“And she is vaping on GO.”
bpassifiume@postmedia.com
X : @bryanpassifiume