Suspect Joseph Grier, 39, says he witnessed a mass shooting at an Atlanta food court and was interviewed on local television before getting on the bus. Authorities say there is no connection between the mass shooting and what happened on the bus.
A city bus in Atlanta was hijacked on Tuesday evening after the suspect allegedly killed one person, authorities say.
More than 50 police vehicles from Atlanta were in pursuit of the bus. The suspect held a gun to the head of the bus driver after he allegedly shot and killed a passenger on the bus who he had gotten into an argument with, according to authorities.
There were 14 other passengers on board.
“We believe there was an altercation on the bus and that the hijacker disarmed a citizen and then used that weapon to injure a passenger and then use that gun to force the driver to do what we saw him do,” Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum said in a press conference.
Police tried to stop the bus by throwing nail strips to flatten the tires but it kept going, hitting other cars and driving through a barricade of police cars.
“You have an individual saying, ‘If you stop this bus I am going to kill the driver,’ which then means that the whole bus could overturn, could run over a ditch, or run over a bridge and everyone could die,” Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said at the press conference.
The incident started in downtown Atlanta. Police say the bus driver was then forced onto the downtown connector before going north on Interstate 85.
“The individual did comment very boldly, ‘I have bipolar, I am bipolar, so y’all don’t mess with me,’ and so many words when he was on the bus,’” Dickens said.
The bus was eventually rammed by a tank-link Bearcat SWAT vehicle.
Joseph Grier, 39, was taken into custody.
“Our concern is why did he disarm an individual and so what he did and we are going to hold him accountable,” Schierbaum said.
The suspected killer said he was also a witness to a mass shooting at an Atlanta food court before he got on the bus. He was interviewed about the incident on local television. Police say there is no connection between the mass shooting and what happened on the bus.
The other passengers were not physically harmed.
Authorities say Grier, who has 19 prior felony arrests, will be charged with murder, among other offenses.
