Gwinnett County Police detectives have charged Jaylin Backman, 23, of Conyers with one count of aggravated assault after pulling a gun Tuesday on a Greyhound bus driver.
Gwinnett County SWAT police entered the bus to safely take Backman into custody. Another Greyhound bus arrived to the scene to take passengers to their destinations.
Authorities said Backman was having a mental health crisis. According to a Gwinnett County Police report, Backman got into an argument with a bus passenger. The bus driver noticed the argument, pulled the bus over and asked Backman about the commotion.
Detectives determined that Backman did not point his handgun at any other passengers or prevent them from evacuating the bus.
The incident caused a multi-hour traffic delay on Interstate 85.
Update posted March 22, 2022 at 5:15 p.m.:
An armed suspect on a Greyhound bus that caused the shutdown of a portion of Interstate 85 for nearly three hours is now in custody.
An update from the Gwinnett County Police Department just after 4:30 p.m. said one male suspect was taken into custody. The name of the suspect has not been released. No injuries were reported.
The suspect was on board the bus when it left Atlanta bound for New York Tuesday morning. Police got a call around 9:30 a.m. stating a passenger was acting "erratic" and produced a handgun.
The bus stopped on the Interstate 85 northbound ramp from Indian Trail Road. Officers and the Gwinnett County SWAT team responded to the scene and were able to get the additional 38 passengers safely off the bus.
A portion of the interstate and Indian Trail Road were shut down while the Gwinnett Crisis Negotiators and SWAT team attempted to get the suspect to leave the bus unarmed. The suspect refused to do so, and the SWAT team was eventually able to board the bus and take him into custody.
It is believed the suspect was having a mental health crisis. The Police Behavioral Health Unit was on scene and followed the suspect to jail to make sure he received a mental health assessment and available mental health resources.
Interstate 85 and Indian Trail Road have since reopened.
Original story posted March 22, 2022 at 10:33 a.m.:
A Greyhound bus is stopped on the Interstate 85 northbound ramp to Indian Trail Road for an armed person on board.
The Gwinnett County SWAT team is responding to the situation, according to preliminary details from Gwinnett County police. All other passengers and the driver have been evacuated from the bus.
