UPDATE: Bus bomb scare prompts massive search

An argument between two passengers aboard a local transit bus Tuesday night led to a search for explosives at a Woodbridge bus station, but nothing suspicious was found.

By: Uriah Kiser | Insidenova.com
Published: April 07, 2010

Update, 9:25 a.m.: Police found no explosives on any local transit buses after an argument between passengers created a bomb scare Tuesday night. By 12:45 a.m. Wednesday, investigators had cleared the Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission Transit Center on Potomac Mills Road, taking with them a swarm of police officers that were dispatched to systematically search all of the buses parked at the depot.

WOODBRIDGE Va. -- An argument between two passengers aboard a local transit bus Tuesday night led to a search for explosives at a Woodbridge bus station.

Police were called at 10:13 p.m., after a Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission bus driver traveling near Potomac Mills overheard the two arguing on the Cross-County Connector bus.

“We are still working to determine if the threat is credible, but during the argument, the driver overheard one the men saying he was ‘capable of blowing things up,’ and then the driver notified his supervisor,” Prince William police spokeswoman Erika Hernandez said late Tuesday.

The man thought to have made the threat got off the bus and a police began searching for him, and did a systematic sweep of PRTC’s buses parked at their Woodbridge transit center on Potomac Mills Road. Police dogs were called in to sniff out explosives and police officers established a perimeter, blocking roads through the area.

Investigators did not know which direction the man headed once he got off the bus.

“All of the buses have been returned to the transit center and are being searched by police,” PRTC spokeswoman Christine Rodrigo said late Tuesday.

Police were searching for a black man said to be in his 50s, wearing a long sleeve white shirt and blue jeans. He had long hair that was pulled back into a ponytail and shaded glasses.

In addition to the swarm of police officers, a fire marshal was also dispatched to the area, said Hernandez.

PRTC’s Cross-County Connector bus operates between Manassas and Woodbridge, and would have been finishing up its last run of the day when the incident happened.

Last year, PRTC carried 3.9 million passengers on their commuter and local buses.

Staff writer Uriah A. Kiser can be reached at 703-878-8065.