Atlanta police have identified the hijacker who held the bus driver at gunpoint, took the remaining 17 passengers hostage and led a 15-mile police pursuit through multiple jurisdictions, as well as the passenger who was shot to death.
Atlanta police said in a statement that suspect Joseph Greer, 39, was taken into custody without incident after a multi-agency, cross-jurisdictional pursuit that zigzagged across freeway lanes and suburban roads during rush hour, with the bus plowing into other vehicles and crossing into oncoming traffic.
Greer was booked into the Fulton County Jail on more than 20 charges, including murder, 14 counts of kidnapping, 13 counts of aggravated assault, hijacking a motor vehicle and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, according to online jail records.
Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum said at a press conference Tuesday that Greer is a convicted felon with 19 prior arrests. Fox 5 Atlanta reported..
One person killed in high-speed chase on Atlanta highway after crowded public bus hijacked
Joseph Greer, 39, is the suspect who led police on a wild chase. (Fulton County Sheriff’s Office)
According to the Georgia Department of Corrections, Greer was released from Baldwin State Prison 10 years ago after serving time for aggravated assault in 2011. The department told Fox 5 Atlanta that Greer also served time in prison for possessing a knife during the commission of a crime.
Schierbaum also released the identity of the slain passenger, 58-year-old Ernest Byrd Jr., at the press conference.
Off-duty Atlanta police officer shoots and kills convicted felon who opened fire in food court, injuring three
A hijacked bus speeds down an Atlanta highway. (My)
Greer’s father’s partner told Fox 5 Atlanta that the suspected hijacker had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia and had suffered from mental illness for 16 years and had been receiving treatment.
She said Greer had a calm, gentle and loving demeanor when he was well rested and taking his medication, but after recently losing his job, he had stopped following his treatment plan and wasn’t getting much sleep, she said.
She told the outlet that until yesterday her family had encouraged her husband to rest, and that she had turned on the news herself to see the ongoing police manhunt after receiving a call from a friend.
Georgia man accused of attacking pregnant woman is a repeat offender in Atlanta area: police
Atlanta police said the suspect is 39-year-old Joseph Greer. (Waga TV)
“God have mercy on me, this is Joseph,” she said. “I’m so sorry. I feel sorry for the family, but it could have been so much worse. There were 17 people on the bus. What if they all got shot?”
Officers from the Atlanta Police Department’s 5th District responded to the hostage situation at 45 Ivan Allen Jr. Blvd. NE around 4:35 p.m. The bus reportedly fled the scene as officers approached. Seventeen passengers were trapped inside the vehicle.
The Georgia Department of Transportation said in a statement that Greer had been involved in a fight with another passenger on a Gwinnett County Transit bus.
“Grear then took the gun from the passenger and began threatening the passenger with the gun,” the GBI said in a news release. “Grear then ordered the bus driver to flee the scene while continuing to threaten the passenger with the gun.”
According to the press release, one of the passengers trapped on the bus with the gunman secretly called 911. A family member of another passenger soon contacted them by text message about the hijacking.
Police were able to stop the bus using spike strips near Hugh Howell Road in Stone Mountain after a 15-mile pursuit along Interstate 85.
Video captured by FOX 5 Atlanta shows police handcuffing Greer and escorting him off the bus after it stopped in neighboring DeKalb County.
Video taken by the police department shows the bus striking several vehicles before coming to a stop.
One passenger was shot and taken to a local hospital where he later died from his injuries, but no other passengers were injured, authorities said.
Police said the investigation is ongoing.
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The pursuit came shortly after a gunman opened fire on several people at a food court in downtown Atlanta, ending with an off-duty police officer shooting and killing the man.
― Fox News Digital’s Bradford Betts contributed to this report.
