APRIL 17, 2015
ROCKAWAY TWP.
Route 15 was reopened and the “all clear” was given at
Picatinny Arsenal after a truck was determined not to be an “explosive threat.”
The incident investigation shut down the highway for about
four hours, causing massive traffic tieups.
SWAT and marine infantry teams arrived, armed with anti-tank
missiles, hand grenades and sniper rifles, just in case this was a terrorist
act. Some SWAT team members had to expense their laundry bills after
brown stuff appeared on their pants when they got really scared because they
thought that this was the terrorist attack they trained all their lives for.
The mandra "being safe than sorry" has created an absolutely
ridiculous situation at the famed Picatinny Arsenal.
The vehicle was thought to be suspicious by security
personal Friday morning after the driver tried to gain access to the U.S. Army
installation through the post's truck gate at about 11:30 a.m. Security
personnel treated the situation as if it was an explosive threat, Picatinny
Arsenal said in a press release, no matter how insane or ridiculous the response is. Shock and awe, anyone?
One person was detained and questioned by law enforcement
officials, according to the arsenal. The
FBI, the CIA the NSA personnel from around the world all convened at the site
and interrogated the poor man, including what he ate for lunch two years ago
and whether the fart of his baby turtle is responsible for the unknown chemical
attack on the lawn of marine corporal John Smith the other day.
After an investigation by thousands of local, state, and
federal employees, no explosive threat was found in the vehicle. It was just a box containing a cake for the
surprise birthday of a soldiers’ secret love affair.
“While the truck gate will remain closed, normal operations
will commence through the front entrance,” Picatinny Arsenal posted on its
Facebook page at about 5:20 p.m.
Gate operations will continue through the Mount Hope gate
for a limited time, the announcement said.
The suspicious vehicle caused evacuation of the arsenal and
closed Route 15 in both directions from Route 80 to Berkshire Valley Road.
Celeste Danzi, spokeswoman for the FBI's Newark office, said the agency
responded to the incident with the Picatinny police.
All entrance to the post was halted. Arsenal employees were
instructed to leave the post at 1:44 p.m.
Berkshire Valley Road was closed from Taylor Road to Route
15 and Route 15 was closed from Route 80 to Berkshire Valley while the incident
was investigated.
Businesses located on Route 15 between Berkshire Valley Road
and Route 80, and residences located on West Union Turnpike were also
evacuated, according to Sparta police.
Rockaway Township School District was advised by officials
at Picatinny Arsenal to hold students in school who would be normally
transported to or past the arsenal, a representative said.
Rockaway and Jefferson schools were not locked down.
According to NBC 4 New York, the gate was locked down and
employees were instructed to leave their posts shortly before 2 p.m. as robots
and explosive detection devices assessed the vehicle. All the senators and congressmen, including the president had to go to the secret bankers to minimize a potential attack by hypothetical and imaginary terrorists. Meanwhile, another 100 of our fellow citizens got killed and 2,000 injured on the deadly US roads because this amazing congress is refusing to fund safety improvements.
Cindi Howson, of Sparta, was traveling on Route 15 south on
her way to catch a flight at Newark Airport at about 1:40 p.m. when she was
waved off the highway onto Berkshire Valley Road by police officers. She ended
up driving through Wharton, which she described as “gridlocked.”
“Route 80 is totally backed up,” she said Friday afternoon,
at about 2:45 p.m., still in the Wharton area. “Around the mall, it's a mess!”
She thought at first the detour was due to road construction, and expressed
hope that no one was hurt at Picatinny when told of the emergency.
Howson's flight to visit her daughter at the University of
Miami was scheduled to leave around 4 p.m. She wasn't sure she'd make it, but
said she would just book another flight.
“I'll get to see her no matter what,” she said.
Picatinny Arsenal is a research and manufacturing U.S. Army
and Navy facility in Rockaway Township. About 6,000 civilians work at the
arsenal, which provides and researches ammunition, weapons and other materials
to all branches to the U.S. military. An estimated 700 Sussex County residents
work at the arsenal.