ATLANTA (AP) — As police responded to stories of a number of folks shot at a downtown Atlanta meals court docket, Joseph Grier was on the sidewalk outdoors, rambling to reporters about his psychological well being, prison document and banking historical past.
“I’m bipolar, I’m gonna let you know all that, and I’m off my remedy for like two weeks,” Grier stated Tuesday afternoon, showing agitated and including that he felt like a “snitch” for describing what he had seen.
Simply a short time later, police stated, he hijacked a commuter bus, ordering the driving force at gunpoint to hit the gasoline and panicking the passengers. By the point the bus rolled to a cease some 40 minutes later, authorities stated, Grier had fatally shot one passenger and led officers on a dramatic chase by means of three counties.
The meals court docket taking pictures and the bus hijacking — solely two hours and some blocks aside — created a way of chaos in Atlanta. Within the aftermath, metropolis leaders decried the prevalence of weapons on the streets however had been fast to reassure residents and tout statistics that present Atlanta’s violent crime declining.
Authorities stated Grier boarded a bus certain for a suburban Gwinnett County park-and-ride lot 26 miles (42 kilometers) away and received right into a battle with passenger Ernest Byrd Jr. When the 58-year-old Byrd pulled a gun, in response to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Grier took the gun and fatally shot Byrd. Grier then threatened to shoot the driving force if he stopped.
Regardless of Grier’s warnings to not use telephones, no less than one passenger known as 911 and left the road open, in response to Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum. That allowed police to higher perceive the fragile state of affairs onboard, Schierbaum stated, because the bus careened down an interstate and thru aspect streets, typically ramming automobiles in its path. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation stated police flattened tires on the bus, but it surely stored rolling till a state trooper fired his rifle into the engine, inflicting it to cease operating.
“You could have a person saying, ‘Should you cease this bus, I’m going to kill the driving force,’ which then signifies that the entire bus may overturn, may run over a ditch or run over a bridge and everybody may die,” Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens stated. “However you even have a person that we all know was shot. So he has a restricted period of time.”
The chief stated police would study what they may have finished to cease the bus extra rapidly however added that nobody can foresee each state of affairs.
“Generally there’s not a recreation plan, and it’s a must to craft a approach proper then,” Schierbaum stated. “And we noticed that yesterday.”
Grier, 39, was led from the bus in handcuffs and booked into the Fulton County Jail on greater than two dozen fees, together with homicide. He was being held with out bail Wednesday, and on-line data didn’t record an legal professional who may touch upon the costs.
Schierbaum stated investigators have discovered no connection between Grier and Jeremy Malone, 34, who’s accused of taking pictures three folks on the meals court docket within the Peachtree Heart advanced.
In his interview with reporters outdoors the meals court docket, Grier stated he was in “excessive mode” when he noticed the shooter. Grier talked concerning the significance of defending himself, pulling a field cutter out of his pocket and repeatedly saying he couldn’t get a gun due to his felony prison document.
Schierbaum and Dickens stated they consider Grier’s actions had been linked to psychological sickness — although research present that the overwhelming majority of individuals with psychological sicknesses should not violent.
“Was he having a psychological episode for that temporary second triggered by police sirens, triggered by exercise that he’s listening to, or was he already that day having a psychological episode (and) he was simply in that space?” Dickens stated. “All of that can play into our investigation.”
In his interview with reporters in search of witnesses of the meals court docket taking pictures — together with one from The Related Press — Grier rambled for greater than three minutes, saying he had seen a person he believed to be the shooter confront a lady outdoors the meals court docket. Grier stated that after the taking pictures, he ran.
“I defend myself. I can’t get a gun, you already know what I’m saying?” he stated. “So my factor is defend your self such as you’re in chain gang. I did jail time.”
At a information convention Wednesday on the town’s “summer time security plan” — scheduled earlier than Tuesday’s taking pictures and hijacking — Schierbaum instructed reporters that investigators consider Grier didn’t have a gun when he boarded the bus.
Schierbaum stated 17 folks had been on the bus, together with the driving force. Byrd was taken to a hospital, the place he died.
Byrd’s household stated he was a constructing engineer who lived a lot of his life in New York Metropolis and Marlton, New Jersey, earlier than transferring to Georgia a few decade in the past. A lover of journey, his Masonic lodge and household, Byrd was engaged to be remarried, they stated.
“He was a person recognized for his unwavering dedication to resolving conflicts and defending others,” family stated in an announcement.
Tonya Pendleton, a relative of Byrd’s ex-wife, stated relations had been nonetheless making an attempt to know what occurred. She stated Byrd left behind 4 youngsters, in addition to a toddler and family of his ex-wife that he helped increase. Pendleton stated funeral preparations had been incomplete Wednesday.
Dickens stated each of Tuesday’s shootings had been the “results of too many individuals having weapons of their fingers.” He famous that each suspects have prolonged prison data — Malone had 11 prior arrests, and Grier had 19 — and had been ineligible to personal weapons due to prior felony convictions.
Dickens stated metropolis officers wish to have “a dialog about what’s the correct option to sentence somebody that has dedicated that many crimes, a few of them with weapons, a few of them which have harm folks or taken property.”
Schierbaum additionally known as for motion on repeat offenders: “They both want help by means of court-mandated programming round drug dependancy and psychological well being, or they must be out of society’s circulation. And judges need to be a part of this dialog.”
Grier is charged with one depend of homicide, one depend of hijacking a motorcar, 13 counts of aggravated assault, 14 counts of kidnapping, one depend of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and one depend of possession of a firearm or knife through the fee of against the law.
Fulton County District Lawyer Fani Willis on Wednesday requested state officers to nominate a particular prosecutor in Grier’s case, saying an worker of her workplace was a sufferer or witness with out explaining additional. Willis is finest recognized for her prosecutions of former President Donald Trump and rapper Younger Thug.
Malone’s fees within the meals court docket taking pictures embody aggravated assault and reckless conduct. He was held with out bail within the Fulton County Jail, and no lawyer who may touch upon fees was listed in on-line court docket data. Schierbaum stated Malone and the three meals court docket victims are all anticipated to outlive.
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