Driver of Bus on Greyhound Route Is Shot

The driver of a Southeastern Trailways bus taking a Greyhound route was shot and critically wounded, prompting strike-plagued Greyhound on Sunday to rule out contract talks until a week has passed without gunfire.

“It’s an open-and-shut case of terrorism,” said Fred G. Currey, chairman and chief executive officer of Greyhound Lines Inc. “We will not negotiate with people who are involved in terrorism.”

Representatives of striking drivers denied responsibility.

The bus belonged to Southeastern Trailways, an independent firm, but operated on Greyhound routes with Greyhound passengers under a pooling arrangement that existed before the strike, a Greyhound spokesman said.

Southeastern Trailways has been carrying more Greyhound passengers than usual in recent weeks because of the strike, said Greyhound’s Nashville Division general manager.

About 6,300 Greyhound drivers nationwide went on strike March 2, and the company has reported 29 shooting attacks on its buses, 70 bomb threats and more than 100 other incidents.

The injured driver, David E. Bryant, 58, of Cincinnati underwent six hours of surgery Sunday at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. None of the 46 passengers was hurt in the attack late Saturday on the bus heading from Nashville to Louisville, Ky.

One of two men in a pickup truck that pulled up alongside the bus opened fire with a .44-caliber or .45-caliber handgun on Interstate 65 about 30 miles north of Nashville, authorities said.

The bullet entered the bus through a front window and struck the driver, a member of the union on strike against Greyhound, state Trooper Randy Pack said.

The driver was in critical but stable condition.

“It’s now a matter of just waiting,” a hospital spokesman said. “If everything goes perfectly his arm will not need to be amputated. If there’s a problem, unfortunately, that still could happen.”

Greyhound officials told leaders of the striking Amalgamated Transit Union on Thursday that Greyhound would return to the bargaining table today.

But on Friday, the company said it was calling off the meeting, citing continuing violence.

Joe Semmes, an executive board member for the union’s Local 1613 in Nashville, said the shooting could not have been the work of union members because the driver is a union member.

By using non-striking and newly hired drivers, Greyhound increased its routes Sunday to 54% of its pre-strike runs.