A Suspicious Bag Stops Passenger Train, ‘Heartland Flyer’ In Purcell

A suspicious carry-on bag aboard a passenger train halted the trip by several hours.

Purcell Police say the more than 100 passengers on board the Heartland Flyer were evacuated at the Purcell Train Depot, just after 9 a.m. Monday, until the all-clear was given.

“I was scared,” said Amanda Evers, a passenger from Texas.

Every day the Heartland Flyer stops in Purcell to pick up or drop off passengers but on Monday morning everyone got off the train.

“I didn't know what was going on because they didn't let us know, they just said ‘get off the train,’” Evers said.

“10, 11 police cars, I was like 'What's going on,'” added Sean Buges, another passenger from Kansas City.

Police say all 115 passengers and four crew members were evacuated after an Amtrak employee was alerted to a piece of suspicious luggage that was emitting a ticking sound.

“They actually did their jobs very well they had us evacuated very safely,” said passenger Angelina Medina. “They also gave us a lot of free stuff for our baby obviously because we were waiting in the heat.”

The passengers were bussed to Purcell High School while the Oklahoma Highway Patrol’s bomb squad searched the train.

“We feel fine,” said passenger Mason Moreno. “I'm glad we cleared out whenever we did and we got evacuated to a high school we all got snacks and stuff, they updated us the whole time.”

After about an hour of searching and sweeping the train, police said no explosives were found, and authorities gave the all-clear.

“We good now,” said Evers giving a thumbs up. “No bomb!”

“I'm just grateful that everybody, that they're safe,” said Bella, a young girl traveling with her grandmother. She said she wasn’t scared and admitted the suspicious bag was hers. When asked what the ticking noise was, she said: “I think it was my coloring box or my makeup,” Bella said.

Once Bella and the rest of the passengers climbed aboard just before noon, they were finally back on their way to Fort Worth and made it, three hours late.

“God is good,” said Moreno.

Law enforcement did confirm they do believe some sort of toy was the noise.