One suspect was taken into custody and all passengers on a Greyhound bus were safely evacuated after a "possible hostage situation" and police pursuit on I-94 near Wadsworth, Illinois, late Friday night, authorities said.
The bus was traveling from Milwaukee to Chicago when the incident began around 9:50 p.m., Greyhound said in a statement. A passenger called 911 about a man on the bus that claimed to have a gun and threatened to kill people, authorities said. Wisconsin police responded and initiated a pursuit, which crossed into Illinois.
Illinois State Police were notified of the pursuit as the bus crossed the state line and stopped at the I-94 eastbound exit ramp to Illinois Route 173, the agency said in a statement.
Approximately 40 passengers on the bus were safely evacuated, Illinois police said, and no injuries were reported.
“[He was] just saying that he was gonna kill us, that he was gonna put a bullet in our heads,” passenger Patrick Dodd said, recalling the incident after he and the other riders were safely off the bus.
"Everybody was scared in the back," he continued. "I mean, because you don’t know what to do in those situations so you just do the best you can."
Passengers reported that the bus driver did not stop immediately as police tried to pull the vehicle over, and authorities used multiple spike strips to try and end the pursuit.
U.S. & World
"From what I understand, he somehow avoided the first two and the third one he hit but he was still riding. And somebody had to tell him, 'Look, pull over, we don’t got no wheels man, you gotta pull over,'" recalled passenger Terrance Williams.
The "disorderly and possibly armed subject" was taken into custody, authorities said. Illinois police said Saturday that if any charges were to be filed, the Racine County Sheriff’s Department in Wisconsin would handle them.
Eastbound I-94 was closed for several hours and traffic was brought to a standstill as authorities remained on the scene.
Multiple agencies, including the ISP, the Lake County Sheriff's office, and authorities in Wisconsin, were involved in the incident and the investigation remains ongoing.