Not that Portsmouth, NH is a hotbed of potential terrorist activity, but this particular bus was en route from Portland, ME to New York City.
Police initially received a call from a passenger onboard the bus at approximately 11:00 AM, reporting a suspicious device.
Since then, Portsmouth streets have been cordoned off. The FBI and local SWAT teams arrived on the scene. The FAA declared a no-fly-zone for three miles around the city. Governor Lynch reported to the state Emergency Operations Center in Concord, and 16 passengers were released from the bus, unharmed.
At this moment, authorities have a man in handcuffs, and have called in immigration and customs authorities. Updates and more after the fold.
For more on this story:
http://www.wmur.com/...
http://www.seacoastonline.com/...
Right now it's all quite... boring, isn't it? Everybody did their jobs. Nobody got hurt. And even while my office is less than a mile from the scene (as the crow flies) I haven't yet felt compelled to cower under my desk or wet my pants.
On the off chance that this develops into anything more significant than, "I left my suitcase at home, and called in a bomb scare so my wife would have time to bring it to me." I really don't see how authorities could've reacted any quicker or smarter.
Should be real interesting to see how yet-another-failed-attempt morphs into Obama's fault, a pox on all immigrants, and fuel for the unconstitutional fire that Holy Joe and his confederates are trying to build in the Senate.
UPDATE: Now (as of 2:45 PM) it's "at least two people" who are being led away in handcuffs.
UPDATE x2: Slightly conflicting reports. WMUR is reporting that "at least two people" are in cuffs. Seacoast Online is suggesting that all the passengers were put in cuffs as they were released from the bus (and are still wearing the cuffs), but the police are also still talking to a man who is ON the bus.
UPDATE x3: WMUR reports that the FAA no-fly-zone was lifted as soon as the passengers were all off the bus, and confirms that there's still one man left on the bus, who police are communicating with.
UPDATE x4: Utter hearsay, and I'm nowhere near a TV to confirm, but someone in the comments section of the WMUR website says the TV broadcast is reporting "someone onboard the bus might have a medical condition".
UPDATE x5: As of 3:30, WMUR reports that emergency officials are using a special air-sampling machine to test for nuclear and biological agents near the bus.
UPDATE x6: WMUR now reports that one of the bus passengers was taken to Portsmouth Regional Hospital and admitted to the emergency room. Officials would not comment on the passenger's condition. This would seem to confirm the unofficial report in the comments section of their website.
UPDATE x7: WMUR's Twitter feed suggests that the FAA has reinstituted the no-fly zone.
UPDATE x8: Listening to WMUR's live feed (as of 4:20PM), one of the reporters is suggesting that the police have pushed all camera crews back about half-a-block from where they were previously standing.
UPDATE x9: Governor Lynch speaks. So far, he hasn't revealed any new information.
FINAL UPDATE: Well folks, that's it for me. It's time for my commute, which ought to be at least marginally interesting. For continued updates on this story, refer to the WMUR link. They're doing a reasonably good job of keeping everything up-to-date.
FINAL FINAL UPDATE: It's 8:55 PM. I'm at home. And the man who was engaged in the standoff with police just walked off the bus of his own volition.
He was shirtless, appeared to be bald, and was wearing camoflage pants. The camera work was no great shakes, and the lighting was poor, but to my eyes, he looked white (as the would-be Times Square bomber initially looked, so take that for what it's worth).
I'm sure it'll be a few days before all the facts are released, and so far, they aren't reporting anything about the "suspicious device". But, initially at least, this doesn't appear to be international terrorism.