ATLANTA — Police are trying to figure out what prompted a stabbing attack on a Greyhound bus that led to them killing the suspect.
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Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum said the knife-wielding man aggressively approached officers, leaving them no choice but to use deadly force.
“This was a very dangerous situation,” he said.
Chief Schierbaum extended his condolences to the 39-year-old man’s family. He said his desire was for this event to end peacefully.
“This is never the outcome the Atlanta Police Department wants. We want safe and peaceful resolutions to all these encounters,” Schierbaum said.
It was an encounter that started when police responded to a call someone on a Greyhound bus stabbed a passenger. The bus pulled over to the side of Interstate 75 near Cleveland Avenue around 1 a.m. on Thursday.
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Police say when they arrived on the scene the man with the knife was outside of the bus on I-75 southbound. They say he was going in and out of traffic. They say they tried to de-escalate the situation but the man refused to put the knife down.
“Officers were using verbal commands. They attempted multiple less lethal options. Including taser and pepper spray,” Schierbuam said in a news conference.
Officers say none of that worked. Police were concerned the man would threaten someone in a car on the interstate.
“When the individual began to move towards the officers in an aggressive manner officers discharged their weapons,” Schierbaum explained.
Five officers shot the man. He was transported to the hospital where he died.
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The man who was stabbed on the bus didn’t require medical attention. He continued on the bus trip to Florida.
Chief Schierbaum said officers don’t know what prompted the man’s actions.
“We’re not clear if he was having a mental health episode or if it was substances that were influencing his behavior. It was very erratic.”
The incident shut down southbound traffic on I-75 near Cleveland Avenue for four hours.
The GBI was called to investigate and will forward its findings to the Fulton County DA’s office. Police say they are trying to contact his next of kin before releasing his identity.
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