20-year-old charged with 2nd-degree murder in Surrey bus homicide of Ethan Bespflug

Kaiden Mintenko of Burnaby has been charged with second-degree murder in connection with the death of 17-year-old Ethan Bespflug last week on a Surrey bus.

"Investigators are still working to determine the exact nature of the relationship between the two, but we can confirm this was not a random attack," said Sgt. Timothy Pierotti of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT).

"They were known to each other through a third party." 

Pierotti said Mintenko, 20, was arrested at a residence in Burnaby and is known to police. He said it took six days to take him into custody because police wanted to "ensure a safe arrest."

"We're still working to determine the motive. We're out speaking to as many witnesses as we can," he said.

Bespflug was stabbed while riding the 503 bus near the King George SkyTrain station where his mother says she was going to pick him up. He was taken to hospital in critical condition, where he died.

His mother realized something was wrong when she tracked her son's phone to the Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminster.

Moments before he was stabbed, Bespflug texted her that he was scared because other people on the bus were threatening him, according to family.

Investigators says there is no connection to Bespflug's stabbing and other recent knife attacks on the public transit system.

Metro Vancouver Transit Police Chief Dave Jones said law enforcement agencies stepped up patrols of transit within hours of the killing. 

"These will all be maintained as we look at long-term solutions," he said. "This is an anomaly, the number of events that have occurred of this nature on the transit system that moved hundreds of thousands of people a day."

Pierotti said police were still working to determine if other people were involved.