Surveillance Video Shows Bus Driver Attacked On OKC EMBARK Bus

Surveillance video gives a closer look at what happened inside an EMBARK city bus Saturday afternoon in northwest Oklahoma City.

The video was released on Wednesday and shows a passenger attacking the bus driver just before the bus crashes into a business.

Oklahoma City Police say it all started when a passenger wanted the driver to let him off at a location that wasn’t a designated stop. When the driver said he could not stop, the situation took a violent turn.

In the video, you can see the passenger yelling at the driver before getting aggressive. He then strikes the driver multiple times trying to pull him from the driver’s seat, his seat belt keeping him from falling out. Then, you can see the jolt as the bus slams into the Britton Lumber Mill on N. Western and Britton Road. Police say after a brief foot chase, they took Tihron Harrison into custody. Jason Ferbrache, the city's public transportation director says operators go through extensive safety training to de-escalate challenging situations like the one on Saturday and in this instance, he said the driver followed policy.

“When you run into a situation like that, no matter how much training you have, it's very difficult to prepare for somebody assaulting you while you're operating a vehicle in motion,” said Ferbrache. “From that standpoint, I think the operator handled it as well as could be expected.”

The driver suffered bumps and bruises and is okay but still off work. There were four other passengers on the bus, and they suffered minor injuries in the crash. No other injuries were reported. The business has since reopened.