Man accused of hijacking bus in Atlanta, charged with murder and other crimes | FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV

A Gwinnett County, Ga., commuter bus sits on the road where it was stopped in Smoke Rise, Ga., Tuesday, June 11, 2024. Atlanta police say the transit bus fled the officers responding to a dispute on board, leading them on a wild and lengthy chase into a neighboring county before she was arrested. (AP Photo/Ben Gray)

ATLANTA (AP) — A man accused of hijacking a commuter bus in downtown Atlanta, fatally shooting one person and leading police on a chase across three counties faces more than two dozen charges crimes, including murder.

Eric Grier, 39, was taken into custody Tuesday after police stopped the bus in suburban DeKalb County and was booked into the Fulton County Jail early Wednesday. He was being held without bail and online jail records did not list an attorney who could comment on the charges. Relatives who could comment could not immediately be identified.

Atlanta police said they responded shortly after 4:30 p.m. Tuesday to a report of shots fired on a bus and a possible hostage situation. When a police officer arrived about a minute later and confronted the suspect, the man forced the bus driver to leave, Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum said.

Television news helicopter footage showed the bus hitting several vehicles during the ensuing chase and crossing onto the wrong side of a road with police in pursuit. The bus was eventually stopped miles away in neighboring DeKalb County, where news footage showed Grier handcuffed off the bus.

Schierbaum said there were 17 people on the bus, including the driver. As officers emptied the bus of passengers, they found an adult victim with a gunshot wound. Authorities said that person, whose name was not immediately released, was taken to a hospital and died from his injuries.

Earlier Tuesday afternoon, police said a man shot three people at a downtown Atlanta food court before being fatally shot by an off-duty police officer. Schierbaum said the suspect and three victims were taken to a hospital for treatment, but are all expected to survive.

Grier is charged with one count of murder, one count of hijacking a motor vehicle, 13 counts of aggravated assault, 14 counts of kidnapping, one count of possession of a firearm fire by a convicted felon and one count of possession of a firearm or knife during the commission of a felony.