[ad_1]
UPDATED with resolution: A man carrying a backpack and apparently claiming to have a bomb climbed to the center of the Santa Monica Pier Ferris wheel today, prompting the closure and evacuation of the entire pier before the man was taken into custody.
Officers were dispatched about 2:40 p.m. to the pier, according to a watch commander at the Santa Monica Police Department. Local TV news picked up the story from the scene.
“Somebody climbed the Ferris wheel, with a backpack, and began yelling at officers,” the watch commander told City News Service. “We’re working, trying to figure this thing out.”
The department reported on X, formerly Twitter, that the suspect was heard by witnesses saying he has a bomb. Officers evacuated Pacific Park and the pier, and a crisis negotiation team was at the scene attempting to talk to the suspect. The suspect was perched near the center of the 130-foot-tall Ferris wheel.
At one point, SM Police had to ask local TV helicopters “to take a higher altitude to allow the Negotiations Team to hear the subject.”
Fire crews were working evacuate people from the Ferris wheel baskets who were on the ride at the time.
A little less than two hours later, TV news reported that the man was climbing down. He was taken into custody shortly thereafter.
City News Service contributed to this report.
[ad_2]
Source link
