Toronto bus evacuated after bomb threat, suspect arrested
Xinhua, June 12, 2016 Adjust font size:
Ontario police evacuated more than a dozen passengers Saturday morning following a bomb threat on a GO Transit bus travelling on Highway 407 en route to Mississauga from Guelph in the greater Toronto area.
A passenger first approached the driver after the man allegedly began swearing and telling others that he had an explosive, said GO Transit spokeswoman Anne Marie Aikins.
Ontario Provincial Police said they put the bus on lockdown after the driver called 911. Police spoke with the suspect on a cellphone and tried to get him to leave the bus, said Aikins.
Police began allowing the 17 passengers to leave the bus before they boarded and arrested the suspect, Aikins said.
"I don't know if I would call it a hostage situation," Aikins said. "I don't have the full details on whether he was telling people they couldn't leave."
The suspect was now in police custody. It's unclear whether he posed a serious threat.
No injuries were reported. The highway was closed in both directions between Britannia and Derry roads during the standoff and has not yet reopened.
GO Transit is a regional public transit system in Southern Ontario, Canada, serving the Golden Horseshoe region and linking Toronto to the greater Toronto area and beyond via train and bus. Endit