A 53-year-old man whose gun accidentally discharged on a MARTA bus in Sandy Springs on Tuesday, July 21, now faces a federal firearms charge on top of the local charges already filed against him, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday, July 28.

Guillermo Cruz Velazquez has been charged with unlawful possession of a firearm by an alien illegally or unlawfully present in the United States, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia. The charge marks the first time federal prosecutors have publicly identified the suspect in the shooting, which we reported on Friday, July 24.

Velazquez was riding a MARTA Route 5 bus near Roswell Road and Glenridge Road when a .45-caliber pistol inside his bag discharged. The bullet passed through his own forearm and struck a woman in the leg, according to 11Alive. Both were hospitalized.

Federal prosecutors say Velazquez fled the scene after the discharge. Officers followed a "trail of blood to a nearby parking lot," where they found him with a gunshot wound in his forearm and a bag with a hole in it. A .45 pistol was recovered in a nearby bush with a spent cartridge case stuck in the ejection port.

Velazquez had already been charged locally with reckless conduct and aggravated assault. The federal charge, announced July 28, is a separate, additional case filed by the Atlanta U.S. Attorney's Office.

U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg said in a statement that his office will prosecute criminals who unlawfully possess and misuse dangerous weapons that put the public's safety at risk.

MARTA Police Chief M. Scott Kreher, who called for TSA-style screening and a firearms ban on transit after the shooting, said Tuesday that the department is working with federal, state, and local law enforcement as the investigation continues.

"Reckless actions that place the public at risk have no place on our transit system, and we remain committed to maintaining a safe environment for everyone who relies on MARTA," Kreher said.

The shooting came amid heightened scrutiny of MARTA safety. The U.S. Department of Transportation announced an investigation into system security in early June following a pair of high-profile stabbing incidents, including the killing of 66-year-old Margaret Swan.

No arraignment date or next court hearing has been publicly announced. The case is pending in federal court in the Northern District of Georgia.