HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The 2001 Greyhound bus attack occurred on October 3, 2001, near
Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
,
Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...
, when Damir Igrić (September 21, 1972 – October 3, 2001), a Croatian, commandeered a
Greyhound Lines Greyhound Lines, Inc. (commonly known as simply Greyhound) operates the largest intercity bus service in North America, including Greyhound Mexico. It also operates charter bus services, Amtrak Thruway services, commuter bus services, and pac ...
bus en route from
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
to
Orlando, Florida Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...
. He slashed the throat of the driver with a
utility knife A utility knife is any type of knife used for general manual work purposes.Peterson, Harold L., ''Daggers and Fighting Knives of the Western World'', London: Herbert Jenkins Ltd., , p. 1 Such knives were originally fixed-blade knives with du ...
, causing the bus to crash into oncoming traffic. Seven people, including Igrić, died as a result of the crash.


Details of the attack

The
Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...
established that Igrić had boarded the Greyhound bus in
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
. The bus was carrying 39 passengers at the time, and was travelling from Chicago to its final destination of
Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures rele ...
,
Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
. At 4 a.m., while the bus was travelling on
Interstate 24 Interstate 24 (I-24) is an Interstate Highway in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States. It runs diagonally from I-57, south of Marion, Illinois, to Chattanooga, Tennessee, at I-75. It travels through Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, ...
near
Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
, southeast of
Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...
,
Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...
, Igrić lunged at the driver and slashed his throat. He proceeded to grab the steering wheel in an attempt to direct the vehicle into oncoming traffic. The driver, Garfield Sands, from
Marietta, Georgia Marietta is a city in and the county seat of Cobb County, Georgia, United States. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 60,972. The 2019 estimate was 60,867, making it one of Atlanta's largest suburbs. Marietta is the fourth largest ...
, drove the route from
Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...
to
Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
. Igrić approached Sands at least three times, and asked how much time remained until the next stop. Sands advised Igrić that they would be making a stop in Manchester, and that he should go back to his seat. When Igrić approached Sands for the final time, he did not say anything, but produced a sharp object and attempted to slash Sands' throat. Igrić then grabbed the steering wheel, causing the bus to crash. Sands managed to survive both the attempted murder and the ensuing crash. His doctor was later able to describe his version of the attack:
He said that this fellow a couple of times, even after he made the announcement of when the next layover was, came up and asked him about routing and times, then the last time he came up again and this time without saying anything he just attacked him and cut his neck. Then he pushed the driver out of the way and took the wheel himself and drove it off the road.
A passenger named Carly Rinearson was sitting in the seat directly behind the driver and encountered Igrić numerous times in the hours before the attack.
This guy approached me and asked me what time it was and then asked for my seat. When I refused he then went back to his seat at the back of the bus. Then an hour later he came up with a small knife or pocketknife and just reached around and slit the driver's throat.
The bus rolled over with the driver's side on top; Igrić toppled through the windshield and died on impact. Six other people also died in the crash. The driver was able to crawl out the window and run about up the highway to get help. The 39 passengers of the bus were all sleeping at the time and were all injured in various ways. Twenty-one passengers were treated at hospitals and released. Nine were hospitalized in stable condition, and three were in critical condition.


Greyhound response

Media attention to this event was intense, with suggestions of terrorist activity. The United States was on edge since only weeks before, the
September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...
had happened. A temporary nationwide shutdown of the Greyhound bus service was put into effect.FBI Congressional Testimony October 11, 2001
/ref> No extra security measures were immediately taken in response to this incident. However, following a very similar incident almost a year later, Greyhound Lines installed partitions on most of its newer coaches that, even if forced open, would prevent someone from easily reaching the driver directly.


Attacker

Igrić was born in 1972 in
Slavonski Brod Slavonski Brod (), commonly shortened to simply Brod, is a city in eastern Croatia, near the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina. Being one of the principal cities in the historical regions of Slavonia and Posavina, Slavonski Brod was the 7th large ...
,
Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
(now
Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...
). During his late teenage years he trained as a locksmith in vocational school. He joined the Croatian army in 1991, when he was 19, and was discharged in 1993, after what the ambassador of Croatia, Ivan Grdešić, described as "violent behavior and substance abuse... he was connected with crimes in Croatia." When ethnic tensions began to flare during the mid-nineties he joined others in Croatia's "homeland war" of independence from Yugoslavia. Igrić, a citizen of
Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...
, entered the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
through the city of
Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
,
Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
during March 1999, on a 30-day transit visa. He overstayed the visa by two years, convincing US immigration officials he had relatives in Florida and
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
. He worked in a restaurant in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
before the Greyhound incident. Igrić had a long history of
mental illness A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...
.


See also

*
List of rampage killers in the United States This section of the list of rampage killers contains those cases that occurred in the United States. This section does not include school massacres; workplace killings; religious, political or racial crimes; or mass murders that took place p ...
*
Killing of Tim McLean The killing of Tim McLean occurred on the evening of 30 July 2008. McLean, a 22-year-old Canadian man, was stabbed, beheaded, and cannibalized while riding a Greyhound Canada bus along the Trans-Canada Highway, about west of Portage la Prairie, ...
, another knife attack on a Greyhound bus


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Greyhound bus attack Mass murder in 2001 Coffee County, Tennessee Intercity bus incidents 2001 murders in the United States 2001 in Tennessee Attacks in the United States in 2001 Mass murder in the United States Bus incidents in the United States