‘Brutal’ deadly MARTA attack prompts safety response ahead of World Cup
She was sitting by herself on a MARTA train Saturday morning.
Margaret Swan, 66, boarded the train approximately four minutes before her attacker struck, according to an arrest warrant obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The arrest warrant lays out in gruesome detail what officers viewed from the train’s security footage. The man came up next to her, drew his knife from his pocket, and began an attack that lasted nearly two minutes.
The MARTA stabbing is the latest of several random acts of violence in recent weeks that have some law enforcement departments bolstering their plans for safety, both for locals and for visitors just two weeks away from arriving for the FIFA World Cup.
Officials say that while the city is well prepared for the international event, no city is able to prevent all crime, and overall, crime is down.
“If you look at the history of crime on MARTA since 2019, 2020, we’re 50% down from where we were back then in crime,” MARTA Police Chief Scott Kreher said in an interview Monday. “I don’t want us to get lost in that fact that the work that the men and women have done here in the last four and five years is phenomenal compared to what it was.”
Atlanta City Council member Andrea Boone said no city is immune to crime, and that some incidents are too unpredictable to prevent.
“What distinguishes Atlanta is not the absence of challenges,” Boone said in a statement, “but our unwavering commitment to justice when those challenges arise.”
But a series of random attacks taking place in broad daylight across the city sits in contrast to the relative safety portrayed in the crime statistics.
During Saturday’s incident, the man came up to Swan, drew a knife from his pocket, held her head and slashed her throat, according to the warrant’s description of the MARTA security footage. She screamed and tried to get up before he grabbed her arm and began repeatedly stabbing her 18 to 20 times “unprovoked,” the warrant says. He then threw her down and stood over her until the train doors opened.
“It was a brutal attack,” MARTA’s Kreher said.
The train pulled into the Oakland City station at 11:27 a.m. The man stepped off of the train, leaving behind several witnesses, the victim, and a pool of blood. He then walked to the north end of the platform, knife in hand, the warrant says.
A crowd of people that had gathered summoned an officer stationed on the platform over to the train. When police stepped into the train car, Swan was “lying motionless in a large pool of blood,” according to the warrant. Responders attempted life-saving measures, but she was pronounced dead at the scene.
John Elijah Matthews, 25, was arrested and charged with malice murder in the case. He was taken into custody without incident, standing on the platform near a knife, according to the warrant.
He had no criminal history, according to MARTA’s police chief.
In another stabbing incident May 24, two men who authorities say did not know each other got into an argument at the Georgia State MARTA station. The man “who instigated the fight was stabbed multiple times” and had non-life-threatening injuries, according to MARTA.
On May 14, Jahmare Brown was arrested and charged with murder, accused of stabbing a woman at random on the Atlanta Beltline and attacking another woman with a rock at a nearby post office.
And in April, a woman walking her dog was shot and stabbed, and a sleeping homeless man was shot and killed in a shooting spree that left three dead in DeKalb County. It was unclear whether the other victim knew the shooter, and the suspect in that case died in jail days later.
Kreher says MARTA’s law enforcement department originally planned to have officers work six days a week ahead of the World Cup, but that schedule has been pushed up to begin this past Sunday after Saturday’s attack. Police departments with stations within their jurisdiction will be assisting MARTA police with presence at those stations on match days, and the Denver Transit Police will be sending 24 officers to help as well, he said.
“We just want to ensure the public that we do everything we can every day to provide them a safe and secure ride, and unfortunately, there are individuals in our society that act violently,” Kreher said.
MARTA is in the process of overhauling its fare system, which includes replacing all of its fare gates. The agency has experienced issues with broken gates and fare evasion for years.
New fare gate installation began last fall, and construction is still ongoing at many stations. It’s been a confusing process for many riders, and for several months all the gates were open to allow riders access while the system transitions. That grace period was originally slated to end May 2 and then was extended through May 30.
Even now, not all gates are closed. At stations where the new gates haven’t been installed, the old fare gates or emergency doors are open to allow access.
Neither Swan nor Matthews had paid fare Saturday when they entered the train, Kreher said, framing fare evasion as a safety concern.
“If an individual is willing to jump a turnstile or push through a fare gate, that already tells me that they’re willing to break the law, and I think it makes it unsafe for all of us,” Kreher said. “That’s why we put a lot of emphasis on fare evasion.”
MARTA spokesperson Stephany Fisher did not address questions related to fare evasion safety concerns via email but said the agency is “committed to do everything we can to protect our customers and employees and respond quickly when incidents occur.”
“This was a senseless and heartbreaking loss. We mourn with Margaret Swan’s loved ones and extend our deepest sympathies during this incredibly difficult time,” Fisher said.
The soon arrival of the World Cup has multiple public safety jurisdictions on high alert, including the FBI’s Atlanta office and the Atlanta Police Department.
Atlanta police said the department has spent nearly two years preparing for the six-week event, which is expected to draw an estimated 300,000 visitors to the city. The department said it is coordinating with federal, state and local agencies to keep residents and visitors safe when the matches begin June 15.
While Atlanta has hosted Super Bowls, sports tournaments and other large-scale events in recent years, the World Cup marks the first time the city has hosted an international event of this magnitude since the 1996 Summer Olympics three decades ago.
Up to 250 police officers from across Georgia are being brought in to assist with security during the games, and many of Atlanta’s police officers will work 12-hour shifts, officials said.
The police department is budgeting $24 million for overtime pay alone. That money will be reimbursed by the federal government after the World Cup, according to the department.
A joint-operation center will be in use during the games to help keep tabs on the city and ensure “an instantaneous exchange of information” across agencies, police Chief Darin Schierbaum told reporters last week.
“We have the ability to deploy resources as need throughout the city for the event,” Schierbaum said.
The department is also sending representatives to Washington, D.C. to be part of FIFA’s International Police Cooperation Center. That should help authorities in Atlanta stay up-to-date on anything happening in other U.S. host cities, as well as in Mexico and Canada, Deputy Chief Charles Hampton Jr. said recently.
As city prepares to welcome visitors from around the globe, Boone said she believes Atlanta is ready.
“Our first responders are ready, our federal partnerships are in place, and our city is prepared to deliver a safe, vibrant and unforgettable World Cup experience,” she said.
Staff writer Sara Gregory contributed to this report.
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