A man wielding what appeared to be a BB gun took over a bus in Queens on Thursday morning, crashing it into a utility pole and knocking out power over multiple blocks, police said.
The 44-year-old man, who was not identified by police, ran in front of a line of passengers getting onto a bus at 197th Street and Linden Boulevard just before 7:30 a.m. Thursday, according to law enforcement officials.
The man appeared to have a firearm in his hand, later determined to be a BB gun, police said. The suspect allegedly said he was being chased and told the bus driver to drive. At least 20 passengers were on board the bus and allowed to flee by the bus driver, who opened all doors before taking off, authorities said.
NYPD Deputy Chief Jerry O'Sullivan said the suspect sat immediately behind the driver, leaving him little choice but to escape out of the nearest window.
"There wasn't any room for the bus driver to exit the bus with the passengers," O'Sullivan said during a press briefing. “I definitely want to commend the driver for his actions. He did not move the bus until everyone was off that bus."
The attacker subsequently took control of the wheel and crashed into a utility pole near 234th Street and Linden Boulevard before coming to a stop, police said.
The man was apprehended by police and taken to a nearby hospital, as was the bus driver, a 21-year veteran of the MTA who was found to have no serious injuries. No serious injuries among any passengers were reported.
“We're very thankful that there were no serious injuries of passengers or our bus operator,” said Frank Annicaro, senior vice president of New York City Transit’s Department of Buses, at a Thursday morning press conference.
Power was affected within a two to three-block radius of the crash, police said. A nearby school lost electricity and students were sent home for the day.
A spokesperson for Con Edison did not immediately respond to a request for an update on the outages, but the utility's outage map showed more than 60 customers near the crash were still affected, shortly after 1:30 p.m., with an estimated restoration time of 3 p.m.
