This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Police were hunting for a man who jumped onto a TRAX light rail train and pepper-sprayed riders before leaping back off and disappearing into the darkness of downtown Salt Lake City.
Utah Transit Authority police dispatchers received a call at 10:15 p.m. Thursday reporting the incident at the Courthouse Station, 450 S. Main Street.
Witnesses told police that the screaming man — in his 50s, wearing an Oakland A's baseball cap and a gray or green hooded sweatshirt — also brandished a knife, though no one was reported cut or stabbed. Three people were hit with the pepper spray, however, and required treatment at the scene.
Salt Lake City police were assisting in the search for the attacker, who jumped off the train at its next stop, the Gallivan Plaza Station, 275 S Main Street.
UTA spokesman Remi Barron said Friday that investigators were poring over video surveillance images from cameras at both stations. He also left the pepper spray can behind, and that had been dusted for prints.
"We're fairly confident we will identify this guy and hopefully make an arrest," Barron said.
Still undetermined was the man's motive for the attack, which tentatively appeared random.
Anyone with information on this incident is asked to call UTA police at 801-287-2408.
Twitter: @remims