New Hampshire Police Investigate Bomb Threat on Bus

New Hampshire Police Investigate Bomb Threat on Bus

www.foxnews.com

DEVELOPING: PORTSMOUTH, N.H. -- Police and fire officials are blocking streets in Portsmouth, N.H., around a Greyhound bus after a man reportedly threatened he had a bomb.

The state police explosives disposal unit has responded to the threat Thursday. Police evacuated residents and buildings in the area, including a Hilton hotel where an alarm sounded. A parking garage also has been closed.

The bus had left Bangor, Maine, and was en route to New York City. It was unclear whether the bus was occupied.

(visit the link for the full news article)

This is breaking at the moment, i'm following it on Fox (nice that they are fast with the news for once).

Hopefully this is a false alarm, if you have a bomb intended for use, why shout about it before you've used it?

Kind of draws attention to you.

They say this Greyhound bus was due to go to New York, anyone know how far it is from Portsmouth NH to NY?

CX.

www.foxnews.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

[edit on 6/5/10 by CX]

Holy crap im right down the road and had no idea. Someone here mentioned a ton of cops were running around and they thought a bank got robbed

Portsmouth to NYC is probably around a 5-6 hour trip

Originally posted by samureyed
Holy crap im right down the road and had no idea. Someone here mentioned a ton of cops were running around and they thought a bank got robbed

Portsmouth to NYC is probably around a 5-6 hour trip

Thank you.

Fox is saying seventeen people are still on the bus, i wonder why they haven't been evacuated...hopefully it's not a hostage situation.

CX.

wcbstv.com...

I have been following this link. Hit refresh for updated text.

Authorities say 17 people are on a Greyhound bus being blocked by police and fire officials.

Police Capt. Mike Schwartz said someone on the bus called 911 and reported an explosive device after arrival in Portsmouth. He says police are in contact with people on the bus, but it was unclear why they remained on board.

New link:

www.seacoastonline.com...
By Staff reports
[email protected]
May 06, 2010 11:41 AM

PORTSMOUTH — A report of a possible bomb on a bus near downtown Portsmouth caused police to evacuate the Hanover Street area late Thursday morning.

At approximately 11:45 a.m. police and firefighters were on scene evacuating Hanover Street from Maplewood Avenue to Market Street, and had surrounded a Greyhound bus while watching a subject inside, according to emergency radio communications.

Police Chief Lou Ferland said police received information that there may be a subject on the bus with a bomb.

According to Portsmouth Police Cpt. Mike Schwartz, 17 people were on the bus, the driver was not on board during the response, and there has been phone contact with a passenger. Schwartz said the bus had stopped in Portsmouth during a trip from Portland, Maine, to Boston, Mass.

FBI agents arrived on scene at approximately 12:17 p.m.

Others responding to the scene included the Seacoast Emergency Response Team (SERT), the N.H. State Police bomb disposal unit, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms (ATF), an Exeter Police special operations vehicle and a K-9 unit from Dover. At approximately 12:30 p.m. an armored vehicle was also en route from Rye.

As of 12:40 p.m. police had not named a suspect, and are urging people to stay away from the downtown area.

At 1 p.m. Cpt. Schwartz said police have been talking with passengers on the bus but have not asked or directed anyone to stay on the bus, and that police are not calling the scene a hostage situation. "The call (from a passenger) to us was a concern based on an observation," said the captain. "We're making the situation as safe as possible."

I am getting quite worried with this!
All this week there has been bombs showing up all over the nation...what is up with all of this?
I know they say the failed one in New York was from the Pakistan man who was a citizen. But what about all of these others that are being called non events and the like. Someone is out to set one off no matter what is my thinking.
Guess it is time to be on the look out for anything left unattended for a while.

Just two days ago NH was freaking out about an "unattended bag" which turned out to belong to some poor homeless guy who went into the courthouse to pay a fine he had.

KEENE, N.H. (AP) ― Police in Keene say the presence of an unattended backpack in a City Hall parking garage prompted the evacuation of the building and several others nearby.

Police Lt. Darryl Madden says the backpack was spotted about 10 a.m. Tuesday in the lower deck of the garage. When no one claimed it and the owner couldn't be identified, a bomb squad was called in and the buildings evacuated. Turns out it was left there by a homeless man who was going to pay a fine in District Court and didn't want his bag inspected.

Madden says the bag, which had some beer in it, had nothing illegal in it. The man wasn't charged.

The buildings' occupants were allowed back in after about 90 minutes. Source

Stupid paranoid people.

And yes, I would be saying the same thing if there actually was a bomb and somebody died. The chances of it happening are so far beyond remote it's hardly worth all of the attention it gets.

More people are dying right now in their cars than will die of these "bombs" in the next decade.

Sources told WBZ's Karen Anderson that a man on the bus was talking on a cell phone in what sounded like Arabic and English.

A woman apparently heard him say something about "a bomb is on the bus."

Source

If this is true it sounds like a case of paranoia..


[edit on 6-5-2010 by samureyed]

I will be very surprised if this turns out to be any kind of significant event. They're not getting off the bus because they want to get where they are going.

Originally posted by thisguyrighthere
Stupid paranoid people.

And yes, I would be saying the same thing if there actually was a bomb and somebody died. The chances of it happening are so far beyond remote it's hardly worth all of the attention it gets.

More people are dying right now in their cars than will die of these "bombs" in the next decade.

I'm on the fence with that one.

If i saw an unattended bag somewhere there was plenty of public about, would i phone it in?

Definately.

You have a point about it being a slim chance of it being a bomb, but as someone who has been to more than his fair share of IED's in his lifetime, some of which were real, i wouldn't want to take the chance.

The bomb squad get paid for this, yes it's a crappy job and probably most of what they go to are false alarms, but they would rather go to a false alarm that the aftermath of a real one.

The way i see it is this, what's one phonecall if it does turn out to be something? It could be my kids out shopping one day when someone thinks it's unlikely to be anything.

CX.

[edit on 6/5/10 by CX]

I am not making light of this situation and hope nothing comes of this for all involved but I do agree with thisguyrighthere more people die in cars every year , more people die every year from bee stings in a single year for that matter . Is it truely worth the loss of freedoms and humiliation you have to experience ? Before anyone jumps on me , yes saving even one life is important but I am talking reality and statisics .To me the scales don't balance . It is distgusting the humilation people are now expected to go through at airports with full body scans for example . I have my dignity and would prefer to leave this world with it intact , so if I were to become a victim of terrorism so be it !

reply to post by CX
I think people are just going crazy. Social cohesion?



[edit on 6-5-2010 by beholdblight]

[edit on 6-5-2010 by beholdblight]

I've been following this since I work right near Portsmouth...

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. — Authorities remain in a standoff with a man on a Maine-to-New York Greyhound bus hours after a passenger called 911 to report an explosive device on board. The other 16 passengers and the driver safely got off the bus, which was parked in downtown Portsmouth, N.H., at 11:30 a.m. Thursday. At least two sharpshooters and a bomb squad have been keeping careful watch. One sharpshooter in an armored vehicle moved close to the bus. Surrounding streets and businesses, including a hotel, have been shut down and evacuated. Police say they've established a way to communicate with the man but won't give details. They say he's wearing camouflage pants. The other passengers spent two hours on the bus before coming off one by one with their hands in the air, under police orders.

Source

Looks like this is not a false alarm

Keep in mind this bus was headed for NYC... with only one more stop along the way in Boston. Perhaps this was another bomb attempt for the big apple?

reply to post by samureyed


Please keep the updates coming I used to live in somersworth and newmarket. Still have friends in the area and very interested in what's happening

reply to post by CX


The massive paranoia is always for the children isn't it?

Oh what a tragedy if my child shall die!!!

There are so many children dying right now. People die. This is no reason to start getting all racist and crazy just because if we don't exercise absolutely every option of security, some innocent child might die! And we can't have that.

In some countries, women get their babies stolen from them by their governments. Lawfully.

Man Walks Out Of Bus In Portsmouth Standoff Man's Surrender Brings End To 9-Hour Standoff

www.wmur.com...

Looks like this may not be over. The article says he was taken into custody, but this video shows him getting back on the bus after laying on the ground for a few minutes.

Why didn't they arrest him? Were they afraid that the suspected bomb might detonate?

[edit on 6-5-2010 by 90gsx]

Edit;

Never mind when i first saw it, it looked like he was walking back onto the bus but after after watching it again it looks like he walked in front of the bus out of the cameras view

[edit on 6-5-2010 by 90gsx]