NORCROSS, Ga. — Traffic stayed snarled though much of Gwinnett County Tuesday when a man with a gun appeared to threaten passengers on a Greyhound bus. The bus pulled over. A witness says one woman appeared to injure her leg while escaping the bus.
The drama consumed much of the day, concluding peacefully but beginning aboard the bus with some pretty frightening moments.
"It was pure chaos," said Sheu Hei Marita, a Clemson University doctoral student who was on the Greyhound bus traveling from Atlanta back to college.
He saw passengers start to panic – and a man holding a pistol.
"He was wearing a grey sweatshirt. And he was – I don’t know – he was just mumbling. Like all the time," Marita said.
He said he saw a small pistol in his hand.
"The suspicious person on the bus was acting erratic and presented a gun," said a Gwinnett Police spokesman. "At that point, the bus driver stopped and exited the bus and the other passengers were also able to leave the bus after police and SWAT were on scene."
Marita was among those making what he described as a chaotic exit from the bus.
"I thought I would die today. I thought he would hurt me," Marita said.
For more than four hours, police laid siege to the bus – then entered it, disarmed the gunman and took him into custody.
"It's believed he was having a behavioral health crisis," said the police spokesman.
There’s no indication the gunman fired any shots or hurt anybody. He was unidentified, and criminal charges hadn't been specified by 4 p.m. Tuesday.