Police: Bomb Threat Prompts Evacuation, Arrests On NJ TRANSIT Train
NEWARK, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- An NJ TRANSIT train was evacuated and swept for explosives late Monday after someone allegedly made a bomb threat.
A law enforcement official told CBS News a passenger made a verbal threat against NJ TRANSIT while on a train heading to Bay Head, New Jersey, from New York.
The threat was made near the Newark Airport station, where the suspect was taken off the train by transit police, sources said.
NJ TRANSIT police said the man who allegedly made the threat was emotionally disturbed. They also arrested the man's father, who got upset when police moved on the son, NJ TRANSIT police told CBS2's Tony Aiello.
The train was swept for explosives and none were found, police said.
A passenger, Kristin Carty of Belmar, New Jersey, told CBS2 the conductor described the incident as a "terror threat."
"After we got to Newark Penn Station when I overheard, well not overheard, the conductor accidentally, I think, spoke to another conductor over the loud speaker and said that there was a terror threat in the back of the train and a lot of people back there were worried about it," Carty said.
Carty said the train was held for 20 to 30 minutes behind stations before pulling into Newark Penn.
Given the circumstances, Carty said holding the train between stations was "a little scary, because God forbid something happened we wouldn't have been able to jump out the window because we were about 20 to 30 feet in the air."
She said NJ TRANSIT only told commuters directly that "they're looking for police presence at the next stop."
The nearly 800 passengers on the train were placed on another train, officials said.
