Jan 14, 2009 1:57 pm US/Central
Secret Service Agent Brings Scare On Metra Train
Part Of Train Evacuated
LISLE, Ill. (CBS) ―
Police stopped a train in west suburban Lisle Wednesday morning and evacuated the passengers, reportedly because of security concerns by a man who turned out to be a secret service agent.
Just before 8 a.m. Wednesday a suspicious person was hanging around the main Naperville train station, 105 4th Ave. and according to a ticket agent at the station, was asking "unusual questions relating to security," Naperville Police Lt. Dave Hoffman said.
According to a source, the man asked a Metra ticket clerk if there were metal detectors on the train, the clerk reportedly saw the agent's gun. The man never identified himself, which prompted the ticket clerk to call police, the source said.
The ticket agent was unsure whether the man left the station on foot or if he got on a train. The train he would have gotten on was Metra Burlington Northern Santa Fe train No. 1252. When that train got to Lisle, it was stopped and police have been looking for that man.
WBBM Newsradio 780 reported that officials later found out the man was a secret service agent. They said he is fully cooperating with police.
The agent apparently did not realize his weapon was visible.
U.S. Secret Service spokeswoman Kristina Schmidt had a different story about the chain of events. She said the agent buying his train ticket in Naperville thought the ticket agent spotted his service revolver, so he explained he was in law enforcement.
She says he did not ask about metal detectors or security.
Burlington Northern Santa Fe train No. 1252 left Aurora at 7:52 a.m., according to a Metra spokesman and stopped at the Lisle Metra station near Ogden and Lincoln avenues. The train was back moving again by 9:45 a.m.
CBS 2 Intern Lindsey Underwood reported that there was a large police presence at the Lisle Metra stop. She said police evacuated some of the train, although not the car she was in.
Passengers were told they might be searched, Underwood said.
"The scariest part was when the police came on our car and told us to put our hands on the seat in front of us, and if we moved it would be considered to a hostile act, and so we were all just sitting there and they had their weapons drawn, and pulled out a couple of people to search that I guess matched their description," Underwood said. "Overall, it didn't last that long, but the police were on our car, and people were pretty calm."
Metra spokeswoman Judy Pardonnet said police searched about 200 passengers. She added that the officers were armed with semiautomatic weapons.
A Chicago Tribune reporter said someone overheard a male passenger say that they had a gun. Police were called and got onto the train with guns and were questioning passenters to find the subject, the Tribune said.
The activity affected other trains on the BNSF line, as well.
BNSF train No. 1225, scheduled to arrive Aurora at 9:02 a.m., terminated at Downers Grove Main Street.
BNSF train No. 1260, scheduled to depart Aurora at 8:20 a.m., did not operate today due to the police activity at the Lisle station.
BNSF train No. 1262, scheduled to depart Aurora at 9:20 a.m., had not yet departed Aurora as of about 9:25 a.m.
Lisle police could not provide information. A Metra representative only confirmed police are on the scene, but could not say why they are there.
The Associated Press and the STNG Wire contributed to this report.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Jewish Celebrities
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
