HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. (AP) - The Latest on a suspicious truck at a Massachusetts Air Force base (all times local):
3 p.m.
Authorities say they’re trying to determine the origin of a trace amount of explosives residue in a truck that prompted the partial closure of an Air Force Base in Massachusetts.
State Police Sgt. Fran Leahy (LAY’-hee) says an initial inspection of the moving truck detected the possible presence of explosives, and a special canine unit also got a hit.
Investigators eventually cleared the truck and its contents, which were delivering personal belongings to a new recruit at Hanscom Air Force Base in Bedford, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) outside Boston.
Leahy is defending the hours-long closure of the base. He told reporters Thursday: “Given the times we live in, we operate in an abundance of caution.”
State police bomb squad commander Sgt. William Qualls said tests are being conducted to figure out where the trace amount of explosives residue that triggered the alarm came from.
Qualls says “there was something there at some point in time.”
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1:45 p.m.
A moving truck that caused security concerns and the partial evacuation of an Air Force base in Massachusetts has been cleared.
The 66th Air Base Group said in a statement Thursday afternoon that Hanscom Air Force Base was returning to normal operations and personnel who had been evacuated were returning.
Officials said the truck had been stopped at a gate into the base Thursday morning after potentially explosive material was detected during a routine investigation.
While the vehicle has been cleared and there is no danger, the statement said pallets containing “potentially concerning residue” were removed and will be brought to a specialized facility for testing.
Police closed an exit on a road leading to the base, which is about 20 miles (32 kilometers) from Boston.
No injuries were reported.
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12:20 p.m.
An Air Force base in Massachusetts has been partially evacuated after potentially explosive material was detected during a routine inspection of a truck at a gate.
In a message on Hanscom Air Force Base’s website, security forces said they became concerned during an inspection Thursday morning.
The truck is owned by Big Foot Moving & Storage. A woman who answered the phone at the company’s Acton headquarters said, “We don’t know what’s going on.”
The base closed the gate and evacuated several nearby base facilities.
No injuries have been reported.
Police say they closed an exit on a road leading to the base, which is about 20 miles (32 kilometers) from Boston.
Hanscom Field, a commercial airport adjacent to the base, remained operational.
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