CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Authorities are considering charges against passengers who overpowered a Covington man who died after he hijacked a Greyhound bus last month.
Assistant District Attorney Gentry Caudill said Wednesday he will decide in the coming days whether charges should be filed against passengers who subdued Christopher Duffner. He said he was awaiting a complete report from police investigators.
An autopsy showed Mr. Duffner apparently died of suffocation after he was overpowered.
Charlotte police Investigator R.K. Harris said authorities will review passengers' statements and the autopsy results released Wednesday to determine whether Mr. Duffner's death was intentional. He expected to complete his investigation this week.
North Carolina law permits crime victims to use whatever force is necessary to subdue a violent person who starts an altercation and threatens the victim with death or serious injury. But the law provides no legal justification for killing an attacker who has been subdued.
Passengers and police said Mr. Duffner, 26, was on his way home from Myrtle Beach, S.C., on July 19 when he commandeered the Greyhound bus north of Columbia, holding a sharp metal object to the driver's throat.
He drove the bus and its 26 passengers up Interstate 77 to Charlotte, swerving and muttering about his children. On the outskirts of Charlotte, driver Harold Sparks wrested control of the bus away from Mr. Duffner, and some passengers pulled him into the bus' step well.
Three passengers held Mr. Duffner down until police arrived. He was pronounced dead at Carolinas Medical Center.
Mr. Duffner's family in Covington has said it would press charges against passengers who subdued him if the investigation shows unnecessary force was used.
During the hijacking, passengers said, Mr. Duffner began to shout about his daughter. Joseph Duffner, Christopher's older brother, had said the girl was born when Christopher was 17 and unwed, and a relative adopted her. Passengers said Mr. Duffner was upset the relative reportedly would not let him see her.
Greyhound officials said they have hired a private firm to investigate whether employees should have noticed if Mr. Duffner had been drinking when he boarded a bus in Myrtle Beach, or in Columbia, where he changed buses for Charlotte.
