One dead and one arrested after bus hijacking in Atlanta

A gunman hijacked a bus in downtown Atlanta Tuesday, taking 16 passengers and the driver hostage as he embarked on a high-speed chase across three counties, authorities said.

One person on the bus died from a gunshot wound, police said. They described the driver as “shaken”.

The slain victim was not immediately named.

The first 911 call came in around 4:30 p.m. as Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum and Mayor Andre Dickens were finishing a briefing on the shooting at the Peachtree Center during what politicians called a “very active”.

“Our 911 center received a report of an emergency on a bus that was located at 45 Eisenhower Boulevard,” Schierbaum told reporters. “The officers arrived about a minute later and confronted the attacker, who then forced the bus driver to leave.”

That first call, he said, was about an armed man on the bus holding hostages and may have discharged a weapon, but the call was cut off. A family member of another passenger called 911 to say a relative had sent a text message saying the bus had been hijacked. Then a third caller, a passenger who remained on the line, helped police find the bus.

A high-speed chase ensued as the vehicle sped through rush-hour traffic, sideswiping cars and veering into oncoming lanes, television and drone footage showed. The Atlanta Police Department, its aviation unit and the Georgia State Patrol were all involved in the chase along surface streets and Interstate 85. Eventually, the bus was disabled by spike strips in the DeKalb County, WXIA-TV reported. Several cars along the route had to be towed after being struck, according to WSB-TV.

The 39-year-old suspect, Joseph Greer, was a convicted felon with 19 prior arrests, he added.

With news feed services