Man Accused Of Fatally Stabbing Bus Driver Charged With Murder

TAMPA, FL -- Tampa Police have released the identity of the man accused of fatally stabbing a HART bus driver on Saturday.

Justin Ryan McGriff, 35, was taken into custody shortly after the stabbing at 4:12 p.m. May 18 and charged with resisting arrest without violence. On Sunday, he was additionally charged with first-degree murder.

McGriff was a passenger on the bus when he stabbed the unnamed driver.

Despite being stabbed, the bus driver was able to pull the bus to the side of Nebraska Avenue between Lotus Avenue and East Castle Court, just south of Linebaugh Avenue in North Tampa. McGriff got off the bus and ran west toward Interstate 275.

Tampa Police and Tampa Fire Rescue attempted life-saving measures, however, the bus driver died at the scene. None of the passengers on the bus were injured.

Officers spotted a man who fit the description provided by a witness and approached him. The man, later identified as McGriff, fled, running under the interstate and then on to Interstate 275 where he was apprehended along the southbound lanes.

Tampa Police detectives have spoken with witnesses who were on the bus at the time of the stabbing and reviewed video from the bus. There is no clear motive for the stabbing.