ECU Transit Bus Vandalized

Riots at the Riverwalk Townhomes complex in Greenville resulted in assaults, damaged property and an East Carolina University transit bus that sustained significant damage.

Police described the riot as involving 3,000 people late Halloween night and early the next morning.

“We are aware of the incident involving the bus and are working cooperatively with Greenville Police who are investigating it,” said Wood Davidson, director of ECU Transit.

The body of the bus was damaged and glass was broken, but a full assessment of the damage is still being done.

“I drove my car through around 5:30 and the streets were already bad. So I parked my car and just walked everywhere for the rest of the night because anyone trying to drive through was going to get their car messed up,” said Tyler Nicholson, senior economics major. “It was basically just a huge party. There wasn’t any fighting. There was no riot. Everyone was having fun until the cops brought out the tear gas to get people to go home.”

The bus was at Riverwalk Townhomes because it was a scheduled service.

“It started with people climbing on the bus. Then, people pulled up the street signs and starting knocking the bus with them. They were carrying the signs around all night,” said Trey Vickerie, sophomore marketing administration major. “The bus wasn’t even in service so I don’t know why it came down that way in the first place, but it took like an hour and a half for it to make it through the neighborhood.”

The operator was able to leave the area safely, but the bus service to the area was canceled until Monday.

“The operator had control during the incident. At no time did a member of the riot have control of the bus. The driver never left the bus. The driver drove it from the scene,” said Doug Boyd, editor from ECU News Services.

ECU Police and other law enforcement agencies assisted the Greenville Police Department at the scene and the incident remains under investigation by Greenville Police.

“Downtown was dead that night because everyone came to Riverwalk,” said Nicholson.

This writer can be contacted at news@theeastcarolinian.com.