Atlanta police said one person was fatally shot Tuesday afternoon on a shuttle bus that led officers on a miles-long chase from the city to neighboring suburbs, with television news footage showing him driving through rush-hour traffic and hitting several vehicles.
News helicopters followed the dramatic pursuit of the Gwinnett County Transit bus, which police said left after officers responded to a report of gunfire on a bus and a possible hostage situation just after 4:30 p.m. near downtown Atlanta.
Ben Gray / AP
“Our initial call was of a gunman on the bus, holding hostages, and possibly a weapon had been fired,” Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum said at a news conference Tuesday evening.
About a minute after the initial 911 call, an officer arrived and “confronted the perpetrator, at which point the bus driver was forced to drive away,” Schierbaum said.
Atlanta police said the bus was eventually stopped miles away in neighboring DeKalb County. The suspect, identified by Schierbaum as 39-year-old Joseph Grier, was taken into custody. Grier, a convicted felon with 19 previous arrests, was armed with a handgun, Schierbaum said.
One of the people on board the bus died of an apparent gunshot wound, Schierbaum announced. There were no reports of other injuries to the passengers or driver.
Schierbaum said there were a total of 17 people on the bus during the chase, including the driver. One of the 911 calls dispatch received from the bus remained open throughout the chase, Schierbaum said, helping authorities put an end to it.
“It was that information that our call takers and dispatchers heard and initially relayed to the Atlanta Police Department, and then to the Georgia State Patrol, and then to our partners at Gwinnett… to help end our hostage situation,” Schierbaum said. said.
John Gilbert of the suburb of Dacula said his wife, Paulette, takes the bus to and from downtown Atlanta three days a week for work. He said she called him from the bus and said a man had shot another man. Gilbert told his wife to hang up the phone because he didn’t want the man to think she was calling the police and shoot her.
He then waited for 40 to 45 minutes without knowing what was happening before his wife finally called him as she got off the bus.
“I felt like I had a hole inside of me,” Gilbert said through tears. “I’m just glad she’s doing well.”
Television news footage showed the bus hitting several vehicles and crossing the wrong side of the road as police gave chase. At one point a police vehicle appears to drive in front of the bus, but it continues driving.
The chase ended when the bus left the roadway, DeKalb County Police Chief Mirtha Ramos told reporters. Authorities then used a BearCat to “immobilize” the bus, she added.
