Atlanta police had barely finished briefing the community about a shooting inside a downtown food court Tuesday afternoon when calls began to come in about a bus hijacking.

A man had hijacked a commuter bus with 17 people inside and fatally shot one of them with the passenger’s own gun, authorities said.

Police arrived on the scene and tried to confront the gunman, identified as 39-year-old felon Joseph Grier, the suspect held the bus driver at gunpoint and forced him to speed away, Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum told CNN .

The ensuing rush-hour police chase zig-zagged across highway lanes and suburban streets as the bus led authorities across at least two counties, at times careening into other cars and crossing into opposing traffic.

The pursuit ended when the bus was stopped and the suspect arrested in the suburb of Stone Mountain, Georgia.

The suspect was actually at the scene of Tuesday afternoon’s shooting downtown and spoke to local news outlets moments before the hijacking

Charges include one count of murder, 14 counts of kidnapping, 13 counts of aggravated assault, one count of first-degree hijacking of a motor vehicle, one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and one count of possession of a firearm or knife during the commission of or attempt to commit certain felonies.

He has 19 prior felony convictions, police said, though no further details were provided.