Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, March 12, 1990 TAG: 9003122855
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: JACKSONVILLE, FLA. LENGTH: Medium
The attack apparently involved just one shot, sheriff's spokesman Steve Weintraub. Although none of the injuries appeared life-threatening, two people underwent surgery for shrapnel wounds in the throat and side, and all seven were taken to hospitals, Weintraub said.
Initial reports to Greyhound were that eight were hurt, said George Gravley, a spokesman at the company's Dallas headquarters.
The union representing Greyhound drivers went on strike 1 1/2 weeks ago, and there have been scattered incidents of violence. A striking driver was crushed to death on a picket line by a bus driven by a replacement driver in Redding, Calif., earlier in the strike.
There were no immediate arrests.
Asked if the incident appeared strike-related, Weintraub said: "I think it is. I don't know why anybody would want to shoot a Greyhound bus."
Bill Nicholson, executive board member of the Jacksonville local of the Amalgamated Council of Greyhound Local Unions, said he doubted a striker was to blame.
"As far as I'm concerned it wasn't one of our strikers. . . . They've been like choirboys," Nicholson said.
Dallas union spokesman Jeffrey Nelson said: "We believe it's important for the public to understand that this is a strike against the company, not against the traveling public."
The driver, uninjured when the shot was fired shortly before 8 p.m., was able to stop the bus safely, Weintraub said. The southbound bus carrying 41 passengers was on U.S. 1 about 10 miles south of Jacksonville, heading toward Daytona Beach, when the shot apparently was fired from an Interstate 95 overpass.
Greyhound said earlier that buses were again running Sunday to 120 communities that hadn't been served since drivers walked off their jobs at the only nationwide bus line.
The company was able to resume stops at cities and towns in the Southeast and Southwest after a new class of drivers graduated from training courses, said Greyhound spokeswoman Elizabeth Hale.
Hale said she didn't know how many of the 9,500 communities the bus line served before the strike were being served Sunday night.
On Saturday, Greyhound carried 38 percent of the number of passengers it did on the same Saturday a year ago and operated one-third as many buses, Hale said.
The 120 communities had been without service since the union, which represents 6,300 drivers and more than 3,000 office and maintenance workers, went on strike March 2.
Officials at the union's headquarters in Phoenix, and at offices in Dallas and Washington, D.C., didn't respond to telephone calls Sunday.
Big cities had been served by Greyhound virtually since the strike began. The additions Sunday included smaller cities and small towns along routes between metropolitan areas, Hale said.
"Our goal is to rebuild our passenger service to a full national network by the end of this month," said Greyhound President Frank Schmieder.
by CNB