An apparent misunderstanding was to blame for a police standoff that lasted for nine hours.
Armed police officers surrounded a Greyhound bus in downtown Portsmouth, New Hampshire, last Thursday, after a passenger called 911 to report a bomber.
The caller, who has not been identified, said a fellow passenger was speaking on a cell phone in a foreign language, and reported overhearing the words "bomb on the bus" being shouted on the other end of the phone.
Sixteen other passengers – all initially treated as suspects – were evacuated from the bus, which was headed for New York, before the final suspect finally emerged at 8:45pm, ending the siege that had begun before noon.
No firearms or explosives were found on the bus or on the suspect, and it soon became apparent that the man had only delayed leaving the bus because he spoke very little English, and was fearful.
Though the man was in the US legally, he was from Burundi, in Africa, and spoke only Swahili. He was convinced to give himself up only after a Swahili-speaking family member was located, and was able to assure him there was no danger.
It took only 45 minutes for police to establish that the call was a false alarm. Police drove the Burundian national back to his home in Maine, where the bus originated.
Portsmouth Police Chief David Ferland told Associated Press, "It wasn't long before we realized he was scared. We didn't feel it was criminal intent."
He said he felt police action was "appropriate," especially following the recent attempted terrorist attack in New York's Times Square.
09 May 2010
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