Green Energy
Seacoastonline has what appears to be an up-to-date timeline on the Portsmouth, NH, bus standoff.
Hanover Street cleared; robotic devices sent to inspect bus during bomb scare
By Staff reports
[email protected]
May 06, 2010 11:41 AMPORTSMOUTH
Five hours after police were called to the area of the High-Hanover parking garage for a report of a possible bomb aboard a Greyhound bus, police cleared Hanover Street of onlookers and media, while one man remained on the bus and robotic devices were sent in to inspect the scene.
Sixteen other passengers walked away from the bus two hours after the initial call, with their hands in the air, down the middle of Hanover Street, flanked by SWAT team members.
By 5:30 p.m., according to Schwartz, police had deployed at least two robotic devices, one of which contained video equipment, to inspect the bus.
"We certainly would like him to get off the bus," said Portsmouth Police Capt. Mike Schwartz of the man that remained on board at 5 p.m.
At approximately 11:40 a.m. Thursday, police and firefighters responded to the area of the High-Hanover parking garage, where they surrounded a Greyhound bus while watching a subject inside. Shortly afterwards emergency responders began evacuating nearby businesses.
Police Chief Lou Ferland said police had received information that there may be a subject on the bus with a bomb.
According to Schwartz, 17 people were on the bus, the driver was not on board during the response, and there had been phone contact with a passenger on the bus, which had stopped in Portsmouth while en route to Boston, Mass. from Portland, Maine.
As the scene unfolded, city police were joined by other local, state and federal agencies including Exeter and Hampton police, the Seacoast Emergency Response Team (SERT), a K-9 unit from Dover, the N.H. State Police bomb disposal unit, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), immigration and customs officials and the FBI. At approximately 12:30 p.m. an armored vehicle was called in from Rye.
Police urged people to stay away from the downtown area.
At 1 p.m. Schwartz said police had been talking with passengers on the bus but have not asked or directed anyone to remain there, and that police were 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."
At approximately 1:30 p.m. passengers exited the bus with their hands up, and one man remained on the bus and appeared to be handcuffed.
SERT members gathered the passengers, who appeared to be in handcuffs, in the High-Hanover parking garage before police transported them to the Portsmouth station for interviews by local police and the FBI, according to Schwartz.
By 2:40 p.m., according to Schwartz, police had attempted to establish phone communication with the man who remained on the bus, and stressed that police were not naming anybody a suspect at that time.
At approximately 3:10 p.m., emergency officials were preparing to inspect the bus with a motorized robotic device which, according to Schwartz, did not necessarily indicate the presence of a bomb, but contained video capabilities which could be used for inspection.
Approximately 20 responders were seen exiting a large N.H. Department of Safety vehicle and boarded another bus which drove away from the scene.
State and city officials on scene included N.H. Senior Assistant Attorney General Jane Young, Portsmouth Mayor Tom Ferrini, and Father Angelo Pappas, the Portsmouth Fire Dept. chaplain.
Portsmouth High School sophomore Robert Swan said he received a text message about the incident, and that within ten minutes word of the event was all over the school. Swan said all after-school programs were canceled as a precaution, and that many students' facebook pages indicated they had joined onlookers downtown to see what was happening.
N.H. Governor John Lynch, at the Emergency Operations Center in Concord, said in a brief statement that the situation remains fluid and could go on for some time.
Restrictions were put on air travel in the area, which kept television helicopters from flying overhead at closer than 3,000 feet.
According to Schwartz, police had not recovered any type of device from the bus.
As indicated in the blue highlighted paragraph, even with this detailed coverage the facts are confused -- did the passengers have their hands in the air, wear handcuffs, or both, or neither. But it seems significant that the governor thinks this situation "could go on for some time".
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Green Energy
Timeline for Portsmouth NH Bus Standoff
Seacoastonline has what appears to be an up-to-date timeline on the Portsmouth, NH, bus standoff.
Hanover Street cleared; robotic devices sent to inspect bus during bomb scare
By Staff reports
[email protected]
May 06, 2010 11:41 AMPORTSMOUTH
Five hours after police were called to the area of the High-Hanover parking garage for a report of a possible bomb aboard a Greyhound bus, police cleared Hanover Street of onlookers and media, while one man remained on the bus and robotic devices were sent in to inspect the scene.
Sixteen other passengers walked away from the bus two hours after the initial call, with their hands in the air, down the middle of Hanover Street, flanked by SWAT team members.
By 5:30 p.m., according to Schwartz, police had deployed at least two robotic devices, one of which contained video equipment, to inspect the bus.
"We certainly would like him to get off the bus," said Portsmouth Police Capt. Mike Schwartz of the man that remained on board at 5 p.m.
At approximately 11:40 a.m. Thursday, police and firefighters responded to the area of the High-Hanover parking garage, where they surrounded a Greyhound bus while watching a subject inside. Shortly afterwards emergency responders began evacuating nearby businesses.
Police Chief Lou Ferland said police had received information that there may be a subject on the bus with a bomb.
According to Schwartz, 17 people were on the bus, the driver was not on board during the response, and there had been phone contact with a passenger on the bus, which had stopped in Portsmouth while en route to Boston, Mass. from Portland, Maine.
As the scene unfolded, city police were joined by other local, state and federal agencies including Exeter and Hampton police, the Seacoast Emergency Response Team (SERT), a K-9 unit from Dover, the N.H. State Police bomb disposal unit, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), immigration and customs officials and the FBI. At approximately 12:30 p.m. an armored vehicle was called in from Rye.
Police urged people to stay away from the downtown area.
At 1 p.m. Schwartz said police had been talking with passengers on the bus but have not asked or directed anyone to remain there, and that police were 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."
At approximately 1:30 p.m. passengers exited the bus with their hands up, and one man remained on the bus and appeared to be handcuffed.
SERT members gathered the passengers, who appeared to be in handcuffs, in the High-Hanover parking garage before police transported them to the Portsmouth station for interviews by local police and the FBI, according to Schwartz.
By 2:40 p.m., according to Schwartz, police had attempted to establish phone communication with the man who remained on the bus, and stressed that police were not naming anybody a suspect at that time.
At approximately 3:10 p.m., emergency officials were preparing to inspect the bus with a motorized robotic device which, according to Schwartz, did not necessarily indicate the presence of a bomb, but contained video capabilities which could be used for inspection.
Approximately 20 responders were seen exiting a large N.H. Department of Safety vehicle and boarded another bus which drove away from the scene.
State and city officials on scene included N.H. Senior Assistant Attorney General Jane Young, Portsmouth Mayor Tom Ferrini, and Father Angelo Pappas, the Portsmouth Fire Dept. chaplain.
Portsmouth High School sophomore Robert Swan said he received a text message about the incident, and that within ten minutes word of the event was all over the school. Swan said all after-school programs were canceled as a precaution, and that many students' facebook pages indicated they had joined onlookers downtown to see what was happening.
N.H. Governor John Lynch, at the Emergency Operations Center in Concord, said in a brief statement that the situation remains fluid and could go on for some time.
Restrictions were put on air travel in the area, which kept television helicopters from flying overhead at closer than 3,000 feet.
According to Schwartz, police had not recovered any type of device from the bus.
As indicated in the blue highlighted paragraph, even with this detailed coverage the facts are confused -- did the passengers have their hands in the air, wear handcuffs, or both, or neither. But it seems significant that the governor thinks this situation "could go on for some time".
- Jihad In Orlando, Florida? Law Enforcement Officials Investigating Shooting That Left 'around 20' Killed In Orlando Nightclub As Act Of Terror
From Fox News: A gunman who opened fire at a crowded, well-known Florida night club is dead and there have been several people wounded, police said Sunday. Orlando Police said the shooter inside the club is dead and the incident has been declared...
- Sunday's Shootings In Houston
Two dead. Six injured. See THIS, dated May 30, 2016, 7:44 AM ET, at NBC News: Two people were killed, six others were were injured and a helicopter was struck after at least one gunman armed with a high-powered rifle began "shooting randomly" in Houston...
- Possible Car Bomb Injures 3 In Michigan
From CBS News: MONROE, Mich. - A blast that turned a vehicle along a Michigan street into a blackened shell and seriously injured a man and two children inside may have been the work of a car bomb, police said Wednesday. Emergency responders rushed to...
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From Fox: New York City Police Close Times Square for Apparent Car Bomb Bomb investigators found propane tanks, powder and an apparent timing device inside, according to a law enforcement official who wasn't authorized to release the...
- Uk: Attempted Suicide Bombing At Mall In Exeter?
That what it looks like (thanks to Watcher71). Just happened this morning, apparently. IT WAS A NAIL BOMB! A "man" is in custody. Witnesses say he was trying to detonate a blast, and he ended up being the only one hurt. Watcher 71 says: At a guess, it...