A teenage boy was stabbed and seriously injured Monday afternoon in a fight onboard a Muni bus near Union Square, and several young suspects were detained.

SFPD officers say they were flagged down at 4:41 p.m. at the intersection of Stockton and Sutter streets, on a report that someone had been stabbed onboard a bus. KTVU reports that it was an 8BX - Bayshore Express, which remained stopped at the bus stop there and surrounded in crime scene tape.

Police tell KRON4 that the stabbing stemmed from a conflict between "several minor boys" on the bus, one of whom was left with life-threatening wounds and was taken to the hospital. Several boys who were believed involved in the incident were detained for questioning.

This is one of multiple high-profile incidents of violence on Muni buses over the last year. In January, an elderly woman was violently kicked by a teenage assailant while trying to board a bus, and multiple Muni riders were hit with raw egg in a weird, racially motivated incident last month. Last year saw two fatal shootings on Muni, one in June on a Muni Metro train near Castro Station that may have been in self-defense, and one in August in Sunnydale.

Is Muni any less safe than it used to be? As with all crime- and quality-of-life-type issues in San Francisco, it's all a matter of prevailing public perception. KPIX went to speak to a few regular Muni riders Monday after the stabbing occurred. They found Rebecca Siefert, who was headed to get on the same bus line when she came upon the aftermath of the stabbing.

"Right as I was walking up Stockton to come here, I immediately saw a lot more cops than usual, a lot of commotion," Siefert said, speaking to KPIX. "What I did see was a young man on the ground, he probably seemed to be about 13 maybe 14 and he was being arrested and read his Miranda rights." (Curiously, the SFPD says "no arrests" have been made, but several juveniles were "detained.")

Siefert said that, as a woman who rides Muni often, she's learned "we kind of adopt this cold demeanor and I think it's kind of important to look like you know what you're doing, don't look lost."

Recent Irish immigrant Barry Keane tells KPIX, "I've had a few instances of feeling harassed but mostly it's okay, it hasn't stopped me."

Photo via Citizen app