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CNN Live At Daybreak
Two Die After Bus Driver Attacked
Aired October 01, 2002 - 06:06 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Authorities in California want to find out why a suspect attacked a Greyhound bus driver with a knife. The bus, moving at a freeway speeds, ran off the road and overturned, killing two people. The accident happened late last night in western Fresno County.
For more on this story, we want to turn to our James Hattori, who has just arrived on the scene.
James -- what's it look like out there?
JAMES HATTORI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
Well, you can see behind me the bus has come to a halt -- to a rest in the middle of a cotton field just off the shoulder on Interstate 5. It was in Fresno County about halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco. It happened about 9:00 -- or 8:45 last night Pacific Time.
A tragic ending for two passengers of the 46 that were on board -- the bodies of those deceased passengers still inside.
We have some footage from earlier. It was quite a chaotic scene when authorities arrived -- local sheriffs and medical emergency folks evacuating several of the passengers by air. In addition, 21 of the passengers were treated here at the scene and released. The rest, about 25, were taken to local hospitals.
The big mystery, of course, is what prompted the attack on the part of this one passenger, who is described as a Hispanic male from southern California.
With us right now is Lieutenant Margaret Mims of the Fresno County Sheriff's Department.
Margaret, what have you been able to piece together in terms of what happened aboard the bus when this took place last night?
LT. MARGARET MIMS, FRESNO SHERIFF'S DEPT.: It appears to be an unprovoked attack, where the suspect was one of the passengers. He walked from the back of the bus to the driver, where he attacked him with a knife. In fact, he cut his throat.
He didn't appear like he wanted to take over the bus, just attacked the driver. And as a result, the driver went off the roadway, lost control of the bus, and it ended up here in the cotton field. HATTORI: And the driver, we are told, is in stable condition. He survived.
MIMS: The driver survived, yes.
HATTORI: The two deceased are passengers, who were aboard that bus?
MIMS: Yes, that's correct. And they are deceased as a result of the wreck.
HATTORI: Did the passengers say anything about how this man moved, or was there any hint that something was going to happen?
MIMS: Just an approach from in back of the bus, directly to the driver, not saying anything, where he attacked the driver with the knife, and he didn't appear to be overly anxious or angry.
HATTORI: And the suspect was taken into custody when officers arrived later on the scene. They chased him down, is that correct?
MIMS: That's right. He was still on scene when the California Highway Patrol and Fresno County deputies arrived. In fact, he was hiding in the cotton when the officers arrived. He stood up, was pointed out by the passengers. He tried to run, but he was caught.
HATTORI: OK, Margaret Mims, thank you very much for those details.
Obviously, still piecing some evidence together. Investigators, in fact, are still looking for the weapon, the knife that the suspect used.
In addition, as we said, the deceased, the two passengers, they also still remain inside that bus.
Greyhound bus officials have been on the scene as well investigating and making sure the rest of the passengers get on to their destination.
Traffic on Interstate 5 for a while was blocked completely. It has been reduced to one lane, and it's starting to clear up right now.
That's the latest from here. Carol -- a tragic situation, two passengers out of 46 dead on this Greyhound bus.
COSTELLO: James Hattori, thank you very much. We'll let you get to work, because I know you just arrived on the scene.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired October 1, 2002 - 06:06 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Authorities in California want to find out why a suspect attacked a Greyhound bus driver with a knife. The bus, moving at a freeway speeds, ran off the road and overturned, killing two people. The accident happened late last night in western Fresno County.
For more on this story, we want to turn to our James Hattori, who has just arrived on the scene.
James -- what's it look like out there?
JAMES HATTORI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
Well, you can see behind me the bus has come to a halt -- to a rest in the middle of a cotton field just off the shoulder on Interstate 5. It was in Fresno County about halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco. It happened about 9:00 -- or 8:45 last night Pacific Time.
A tragic ending for two passengers of the 46 that were on board -- the bodies of those deceased passengers still inside.
We have some footage from earlier. It was quite a chaotic scene when authorities arrived -- local sheriffs and medical emergency folks evacuating several of the passengers by air. In addition, 21 of the passengers were treated here at the scene and released. The rest, about 25, were taken to local hospitals.
The big mystery, of course, is what prompted the attack on the part of this one passenger, who is described as a Hispanic male from southern California.
With us right now is Lieutenant Margaret Mims of the Fresno County Sheriff's Department.
Margaret, what have you been able to piece together in terms of what happened aboard the bus when this took place last night?
LT. MARGARET MIMS, FRESNO SHERIFF'S DEPT.: It appears to be an unprovoked attack, where the suspect was one of the passengers. He walked from the back of the bus to the driver, where he attacked him with a knife. In fact, he cut his throat.
He didn't appear like he wanted to take over the bus, just attacked the driver. And as a result, the driver went off the roadway, lost control of the bus, and it ended up here in the cotton field. HATTORI: And the driver, we are told, is in stable condition. He survived.
MIMS: The driver survived, yes.
HATTORI: The two deceased are passengers, who were aboard that bus?
MIMS: Yes, that's correct. And they are deceased as a result of the wreck.
HATTORI: Did the passengers say anything about how this man moved, or was there any hint that something was going to happen?
MIMS: Just an approach from in back of the bus, directly to the driver, not saying anything, where he attacked the driver with the knife, and he didn't appear to be overly anxious or angry.
HATTORI: And the suspect was taken into custody when officers arrived later on the scene. They chased him down, is that correct?
MIMS: That's right. He was still on scene when the California Highway Patrol and Fresno County deputies arrived. In fact, he was hiding in the cotton when the officers arrived. He stood up, was pointed out by the passengers. He tried to run, but he was caught.
HATTORI: OK, Margaret Mims, thank you very much for those details.
Obviously, still piecing some evidence together. Investigators, in fact, are still looking for the weapon, the knife that the suspect used.
In addition, as we said, the deceased, the two passengers, they also still remain inside that bus.
Greyhound bus officials have been on the scene as well investigating and making sure the rest of the passengers get on to their destination.
Traffic on Interstate 5 for a while was blocked completely. It has been reduced to one lane, and it's starting to clear up right now.
That's the latest from here. Carol -- a tragic situation, two passengers out of 46 dead on this Greyhound bus.
COSTELLO: James Hattori, thank you very much. We'll let you get to work, because I know you just arrived on the scene.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.