GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — A Georgia gunman who barricaded himself inside a Greyhound bus on Interstate 85 Tuesday has been identified by authorities.
Jaylin Backman, 23, of Conyers, has been charged in the incident, which started around 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, and prompted a SWAT response before coming to a resolution, WSB-TV reported.
The standoff with the armed man acting erratically shut down the I-85 between Indian Trail and Beaver Ruin roads for hours in both directions.
The driver stopped the bus on an onramp, where passengers scrambled to get out.
“I was just taking a nap and all of a sudden people were trying to escape,” passenger Shuhei Morita said.
Hai said he was on the bus heading to Clemson when the commotion broke out.
“Some people went to the top and they jumped off the bus,” Morita said.
Morita told a local reporter he thought the driver locked the bus from the outside so that the passengers couldn’t escape. That was when he and others climbed out the windows of the bus to get to safety.
SWAT teams surrounded the Greyhound after witnesses reported the armed man remained aboard the carrier. Hours later, police were able to take the man into custody with no one injured.
Investigators said they believe the man was having a mental breakdown.
Nevertheless, Backman has been charged with one count of aggravated assault, according to Gwinnett Police.
Authorities said the incident was sparked when Backman got into an argument with another passenger. The driver noticed the commotion and stopped the bus. When the driver sought to find out what was going on, Backman pulled the weapon on him, which ultimately caused the frenzy.
Investigators determined that at no point did Backman prevent any of the passengers from departing the bus.
All 30 passengers managed to exit the bus; some out the windows and others climbed out a hatch in the roof, WSB-TV reported.
“Preservation of life is the top priority at Gwinnett Police,” the law enforcement agency said. “We worked with our partners at the Georgia Department of Transportation as well as the Gwinnett Department of Transportation to mitigate the traffic delays, but our ultimate priority was the safety of the community.”
