Things are growing more and more interesting by the day, it seems. In the latest: on Friday, Amtrak service in New Jersey was delayed when an unintended bag left on a train was discovered by police to contain a handgun and a loaded rifle. The bag was determined to have been left on the train by a passenger bound for Virginia; that passenger was apprehended while carrying five more firearms.
A man is in custody after he was found with three handguns and two rifles on an Amtrak train in Trenton, according to police.
The investigation began when New Jersey Transit police were notified of an unattended bag in Newark Penn Station around 3 p.m. on Friday.
Police inspected the bag and found a handgun and loaded rifle. Authorities determined that the person who had left the bag had purchased an Amtrak ticket and was on a train destined for Virginia.
Police stopped that Amtrak train in Trenton, and after the suspect resisted arrest, he was placed in custody, police said.
The suspect was found with three handguns and two rifles on the train, according to police.
The suspect has not been identified, as the investigation is still ongoing. But this comes on the heels of attacks in New Orleans and Las Vegas as well as a shooting in New York (Queens.)
See Related:
Ten Injured in Queens Shooting Incident – Authorities Say ‘Not Terrorism’
NEW: Attacker in Bourbon Street Massacre Identified, and the FBI Clearly Misled the Public (UPDATED)
To engage in some pure speculation: This doesn’t appear to be a case of someone transporting legally owned firearms through New Jersey without being aware of that state’s draconian laws. The fact that the first rifle was found to be loaded is concerning, although how the suspect managed to leave behind a bag containing two firearms is a bit of a puzzle.
No, this looks more like a mass shooting attempt was averted, and if so, good for the New Jersey Transit police and all involved.
The suspect was bound for Virginia, and there are several U.S. military bases there, not least of which is the U.S. Navy’s base at Norfolk. There are also multiple possible locations farther south. But this case presents some interesting questions:
If a person was transporting that many firearms with intent to carry out some kind of attack – why use Amtrak?
How did the one bag containing a handgun and a loaded rifle get left behind? One would think that if carrying bags full of weaponry, then one would keep tight control of those bags. It’s good that the one bag was left behind – that’s how the suspect was identified and caught – but it’s a bit puzzling.
On that note: How was the suspect identified from the bag left behind?
Assuming this was an averted mass shooting, it’s important to note that many mass shootings and attempted mass shootings fail due to incompetence on the part of the shooter. This may be another instance of just that. It’s a safe presumption that it takes a real knucklehead to just forget a bag of guns, leaving it behind on an Amtrak car.
As of this writing, the name of the suspect and the nature of the weapons has not been released. 2025 sure seems off to an interesting start.
