Man beaten with baseball bat at METRORail stop in north Houston, HPD says

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — An investigation is underway after a man was allegedly beaten with a baseball bat at a METRORail stop in north Houston, police said.

Police said this happened at the light rail stop at Fulton and Cavalcade. A group of men and the victim, who may have had a knife at the time, got into an altercation when someone pulled out a baseball bat and beat the man, police added.

“Honestly, it doesn’t surprise me at all,” Kendall Stelwagen, a METRORail rider who takes the rail every day, told . “I take it back and forth to head downtown, and stuff like this happens all the time. So, for us, it’s just status quo.”

Stelwagen said she has heard about a few violent incidents.

In October, a woman died after she was stabbed during an argument with a man at the METRORail stop. Nearly one month later, another argument ended in a man being stabbed to death along the METRO purple line.

“I have changed the way that I ride the METRORail after certain things have happened,” Stelwagen said.

METRO police toldthey are increasing staffing on certain lines, but their trains are as safe as can be. Stelwagen says she puts her safety in her own hands.

“I always intentionally sit in the first car, right behind the driver, usually facing away from anybody that could be coming towards me because that’s just what you have to do to protect yourself,” she said.

Thursday’s altercation and recent deaths are not stopping Stelwagen from riding the METRORail, but she wonders about the impact these incidents have on the public.

“It kind of upsets me because people have this perception of what happens on the rail, and it’s kind of confirming why people don’t want to take it. You know?” she said.

The victim was taken to the hospital, but his condition is unknown. At this time, there’s no word of anyone in custody or what the argument was about.