ATLANTA — The Gwinnett bus driver who faced a harrowing ordeal after police say a man shot a passenger to death and hijacked his bus made it his priority to ensure the safety of his passengers, his daughter said.
The incident began when police say Joseph Grier got on a Gwinnett County Transit bus on Ivan Allen Jr. Boulevard Tuesday afternoon.
Ernst Antoine, 62, was behind the wheel. At some point, Grier got into an argument with another passenger, Ernest Bryd, grabbed Bryd’s gun and shot him. He then put a gun to Antoine’s head and told him to drive.
What followed was a terrifying police chase through three counties in which Antoine weaved through traffic at gunpoint while officers from multiple jurisdictions tried to stop the bus.
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Channel 2′s Gwinnett County Bureau Chief Matt Johnson talked to Keren Antoine, Ernst Antoine’s daughter, about what her father went through on the bus.
Keren Antoine said her father did whatever it took to keep his passengers safe.
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“His first priority was, first of all, the passengers,” Antoine said. “He was actually pretty calm and collected. Whether he lived or died like this, his job was to make sure that these people got back home safely.”
Antoine said her father has been a bus driver for twenty years, but his passion is his work as a pastor and a philanthropist.
“We have an orphanage in Haiti, and we also have a church in the Dominican Republic,” she said.
She said her father relied on his faith in the moment after Byrd was shot and Grier took hostages.
“He didn’t really give him any specific directions, but just to drive. He told him not to stop, not to press the brakes or let anybody out,” Antoine said. “When the shooter had turned his back away from him, he was able to even signal law enforcement.”
The bus hit police cars and other cars in the midst of the chaotic chase.
“I know he tried his best to maneuver around them as much as possible,” Antoine said.
The chase came to an end in DeKalb County, where the GBI said a GSP trooper shot the bus’s engine before police arrested Grier and got 17 hostages to safety.
Byrd was taken to the hospital, where he died from blood loss.
Antoine said her father is taking the day to rest and recover and be thankful.
“My dad, he really thanked God for what happened, and ultimately he was relieved,” Antoine said. “Thank God he’s still alive and with us today.”
We hear his story, on Channel 2 Action News starting at 5 p.m.
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