Just before a bus reached the Greyhound Bus Depot at 1031 Gurnee, about 75 men had gathered in front of it, but they quickly dispersed as Anniston Star free-lance photographer Joe Postiglione raised his camera. Throughout the morning, the depot manager had called the Anniston police chief to warn that the crowd was growing uglier by the minute and to request officers, and when none came he shut the terminal around 12:10 p.m. and placed a closed sign on the door. Later, he and his son returned as spectators. Just before one o'clock, the bus approached the station traveling north on Gurnee, turned right at 11th, and entered from the alley behind, while cars lined a street that would usually have been deserted on a Sunday afternoon. Earlier, a southbound bus driver outside the city had warned the driver and passengers that the station was closed and that an angry crowd had gathered. FBI files recorded a rumor that a car at the back of the scene contained 500 pieces of ammunition, and Freedom Rider Hank Thomas recalled the strange feeling as the bus pulled in: "It was very quiet … for a moment."