Posted on 09/11/2002 8:46:40 AM PDT by Drawsing
FLORIDA TODAY Staff
PALM BAY, Fla. - Police have been called to investigate a suspicious van at the Walgreens store on Malabar Road.
Traffic has been stopped from traveling both ways in front of the Walgreens, which is just west of I-95.
Several Palm Bay police officers and Florida Highway Patrol officers are on the scene and directing drivers to make u-turns. Police dogs trained to sniff for explosives and narcotics have been called in and will thoroughly inspect the van before the area is cleared.
Fire rescue trucks are arriving on the scene and police officials are asking witnesses to move back. Publix, Burger King, Arby's and Wendy's, which neighbor the Walgreens, are all being evacuated.
"I'm very upset because of the anniversary of what happened," said Gerri Clendening of Palm Bay, on her way to her bank. "I'm every edgy today. You know something probably is going to happen."
Police were alerted to the van which witnesses say has been idling in the parking lot for more than 12 hours.
Tuesday the government stepped up terrorism warnings and increased alert status from elevated to high. Although the threats were not specific, U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft warned that car bombings could bring the next round of terrorism.
Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge asked Americans to be alert. "If you see something suspicious, report it," he said.
Florida Today staff writers Valeria Pearcey and Jennifer Ellis contributed to this report.
(Fort Smith, AK-AP, September 11, 2002) — A Northwest Airlines jet was diverted to Fort Smith's airport Wednesday after three passengers locked themselves in a bathroom, officials said. The other passengers departed from the plane safely.
Flight 979, an Airbus A320 traveling from Memphis, Tenn., to Las Vegas, landed at Fort Smith late Wednesday morning, Northwest spokeswoman Mary Beth Schubert said.
Police and firefighters surrounded the aircraft. No one was reported hurt.
Jim Harris, a spokesman for Gov. Mike Huckabee, said the three men were appeared to be of Middle Eastern descent.
The Bush administration had raised the nation's terror alert warning to its second highest level Tuesday - code orange - signaling a "high risk" of attack with the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks at hand.
The state Department of Emergency Management said some sort of negotiations were held between officials and the three passengers in one of the plane's bathrooms.
"Passengers were taken off and they are negotiating through the bathroom," said Jennifer Gordon, a spokeswoman for the department.
The FBI was interrogating the three men, the Transportation Security Agency said. It wasn't clear who reported suspicions to the airline.
The TSA said the three men had been acting strangely on the plane, but gave no specifics beyond saying the three locked themselves in a bathroom.
No other air traffic in the area was affected, said Dave Steigman, a spokesman for the Transportation Security Agency.
(Copyright 2002 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)--- Last Updated: Sep 11, 2002
You're not kidding.
Or maybe these three guys misunderstood and heard "Islam is a religion of pees..."
Oh yeah... There are some fancy buildings in Vegas you could fly a plane into and kill 100s.
ROTFLMAO! Is is okay to laugh today? Because your post is way funny!
It's okay to laught today, MotleyGirl70!!!! I was LOLOLOLOLing also.
Hey, in the 40's there were college contests for stuffing a dozen+ people in a single phone booth.
I'm sure you could stuff three in an airplane bathroom, especially if one is fit down the commode. LOL
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