WARMINGTON: Police arrest man who allegedly came close to murdering Mississauga woman

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This was so close to being a cold-blooded murder.

As close as it gets.

An innocent young woman who just stepped off a Mississauga bus could have been the murder victim. And a young man of 30 caught overnight Tuesday could have been facing murder charges. Peel Regional Police say the attempt was certainly there. She lived but almost didn’t. He is facing attempted murder charges.

This was a nightmare. When police arrived on the scene of a young women being stabbed in the neck, their first priority was to save her life. They didn’t have much time.

The attacker, who witnesses said followed the female off the bus at Eglinton Ave. and Hurontario St. at 6:20 p.m. Saturday, had quickly fled the scene. He was on the run for two days but police identified a suspect and have now arrested him.

The horrors of that scene are still fresh with all who attended there.

“She was bleeding badly,” said Deputy Chief Marc Andrews.

The first to attend to her were civilians who were at the bus stop. A fast 911 call was made.

“Officers in the area quickly turned around their car and got their quickly,” said Andrews.

What they saw was a woman bleeding out.

“They had to use all of their training,” said Andrews. “They pressed on the stabbed wounds and did everything they could to keep her blood from flowing out of her.” The officers got on the radio and were relaying frantically that they needed the ambulance and paramedics to get there as fast as humanly possible.

They did.

“Between all of them, they saved this innocent young woman’s life,” said Andrews. Now, she is not out of the woods just yet but is on the path to recovery. Her condition has been upgraded from life-threatening to stable. It’s a miracle she was not a homicide victim.

She was just seconds away from being one. If the citizens, officers and paramedics had not done their thing, there would have been a funeral.

“We thank them all for their heroics,” said Andrews.

Knowing the community was in potential danger, police put out pictures of the man wanted for this heinous act. They received some tips, and Monday night the Canadian-born suspect was located in the north end of Peel Region near a friend’s home where he had been staying since returning to Brampton in recent weeks after being in the United States for several years. Police utilized old-fashion investigative tools to identify the suspect and track him to the location where he was arrested.

After receiving a search warrant, police on Tuesday were at the man’s home looking for evidence.

Police sources say his appearance at the time of his arrest had been altered from what he looked like in the security video images that police had released.

John Nuthalapati, 30, has been charged with attempted murder and is expect to make a court appearance Tuesday afternoon.

But this case is in the early stages. What is known is it is not believed the accused has a criminal past. It is also believed it was an alleged attack on someone he did not know and that there had been no interaction between the two of them prior to the stabbing.

“A man just got off the bus behind the young woman, walked up and stabbed her in the neck,” a witness told police.

They now have a suspect in custody. The allegations have not yet been tested in court. In the meantime, the victim continues to improve – all thanks to the lifesaving efforts of a few of her fellow humans who stepped up when she needed them most.

However, the first citizen who dove in to try to stop the bleeding of the victim is said to be shaken up and traumatized from the incident. There is already discussion of medals of courage and bravery for this person and for the other first responders who saved the woman’s life.

This appears to have been a violent crime that seems to have no previous spark for it to happen – a random stabbing of an innocent woman for no good reason. Needless to say, this is terrifying. And a reminder that people are not always safe.

This was as close as it gets to being an even worse tragedy and outrage than it already is.

jwarmington@postmedia.com