ATLANTA (AP) — When police arrived at the scene of a shooting at a downtown Atlanta food court, Joseph Grier was outside talking to reporters about his mental health issues, criminal background, and financial history.
“I’m bipolar, I’m gonna tell you all that, and I’m off my medication for like two weeks,” Grier said Tuesday afternoon, visibly agitated and feeling like a “snitch” for speaking out about what he witnessed.
Shortly after, police reported that he had commandeered a commuter bus, threatening the driver at gunpoint to accelerate, causing panic among the passengers. By the time the bus came to a stop after 40 minutes, Grier had fatally shot one passenger and engaged officers in a dramatic chase through three counties.
The incidents of the food court shooting and bus hijacking, occurring just hours and blocks apart, cast a sense of turmoil over Atlanta. Following the events, city officials condemned the prevalence of firearms on the streets while also asserting that violent crimes in Atlanta were on a decline.
Authorities disclosed that Grier boarded a bus bound for a suburban Gwinnett County park-and-ride lot located 26 miles away and got into an altercation with passenger Ernest Byrd Jr. When Byrd, aged 58, brandished a gun, Grier managed to obtain it and fatally shot Byrd, threatening the driver to keep moving.
Despite Grier’s warnings against using phones, one passenger discreetly dialed 911, leaving the line open, per Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum. This allowed law enforcement to gain insights into the situation onboard, as the bus careened down the interstate and traversed through side streets, occasionally colliding with vehicles. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation indicated that police deflated the bus’s tires, but it continued running until a state trooper disabled it by shooting into the engine.
“You have an individual saying, ‘If you stop this bus, I’m going to kill the driver,’ which then means that the whole bus could overturn, could run over a ditch or run over a bridge and everyone could die,” Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens remarked. “But you also have a man that we know was shot. So he has a limited amount of time.”
The chief mentioned that the police would evaluate their approach to halting the bus quicker, acknowledging that not every scenario can be predicted.
“Sometimes there’s not a game plan, and you have to craft a way right then,” Schierbaum explained. “And we saw that yesterday.”
Grier, aged 39, was apprehended from the bus in handcuffs and booked into the Fulton County Jail on over two dozen charges which included murder. He was detained without bail on Wednesday, and there were no listed attorneys available for comments on the charges.
Schierbaum confirmed that investigators had not established any connection between Grier and Jeremy Malone, 34, who was accused of shooting three individuals at the food court in the Peachtree Center complex.
During his interview with reporters outside the food court, Grier described being in an “extreme mode” when he witnessed the shooting. Grier spoke about the significance of self-preservation, pulling out a box cutter and reiterating his inability to obtain a gun due to his previous felony convictions.
Schierbaum and Dickens indicated that they believed Grier’s actions were driven by mental illness, despite studies showing that the majority of individuals with mental health conditions are not prone to violence.
“Was he having a mental episode for that brief moment triggered by police sirens, triggered by activity that he’s hearing, or was he already that day having a mental episode (and) he was just in that area?” Dickens speculated. “All of that will play into our investigation.”
During his interview with reporters seeking witnesses of the food court shooting, Grier rambled for over three minutes, recounting how he perceived a man he suspected to be the shooter confronting a woman outside the food court. Following the shooting, he fled.
“I protect myself. I can’t get a gun, you know what I’m saying?” he noted. “So my thing is protect yourself like you’re in chain gang. I did prison time.”
At a press conference on the city’s “summer safety plan,” held on Wednesday before the shooting and hijacking, Schierbaum informed reporters that investigators believed Grier did not have a gun at the time he boarded the bus.
Schierbaum mentioned that there were 17 individuals on the bus, including the driver. Byrd was taken to a hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.
Byrd’s relatives mentioned that he was a building engineer who spent a significant part of his life in New York City and Marlton, New Jersey, before relocating to Georgia around ten years ago. A connoisseur of traveling, his Masonic lodge, and his family, Byrd was engaged to be remarried, according to his family.
“He was a man known for his unwavering dedication to resolving conflicts and protecting others,” his relatives stated.
Tonya Pendleton, a relative of Byrd’s ex-wife, conveyed that the family was still processing the events. Byrd left behind four children along with other relatives that he had helped raise, Pendleton said, adding that funeral arrangements were pending.
Dickens attributed both Tuesday’s shootings to the “proliferation of firearms into the hands of too many individuals.” He underscored that both suspects had extensive criminal records — Malone had been arrested 11 times, and Grier 19 times — rendering them ineligible to possess firearms due to their prior felony convictions.
Dickens emphasized the need for a dialogue on the appropriate sentencing for individuals with numerous offenses, some involving guns and inflicting harm or theft.
Schierbaum echoed the call for action against repeat offenders: “They either need assistance through court-mandated programming around drug addiction and mental health, or they need to be out of society’s circulation. And judges have to be part of this conversation.”
Grier is facing charges including murder, hijacking a motor vehicle, aggravated assault, kidnapping, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and possession of a firearm or knife during the commission of a crime.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis requested state officials to appoint a special prosecutor in Grier’s case, citing that an employee from her office was either a victim or witness without elaborating. Willis is renowned for her prosecutions involving former President Donald Trump and rapper Young Thug.
Malone, in connection with the food court shooting, faced charges of aggravated assault and reckless conduct. He was detained without bail at the Fulton County Jail, and no legal representative was listed in online records for comments on the charges. Schierbaum shared that Malone and the three food court victims were expected to survive.
