Passenger Bus, Rail and Motorcoach Industry News

Anthony Gamez was taken into custody on an Orange Line bus after the on-duty bus operator recognized him from photographs displayed on a “wanted” poster distributed earlier in the day.

The alleged assailant was arrested at the stop by the responding officers and taken to the Major Crimes unit to be charged.

The incident was the first-ever murder on the Red Line in the 17 years that it has been open.

The suspect, who also may have had some sort of detonating device in his bag, allowed 33 of the 35 passengers to exit the bus before demanding the bus operator to continue driving another four miles south on I-85, before the police eventually stunned the man with a Taser when the bus stopped at a gas station on U.S. 1.

On Tuesday, a federal grand jury in Alexandria, Va., returned a three-count indictment against Farooque Ahmed, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Pakistan, charging him with attempting to provide material support to a designated terrorist organization, collecting information to assist in planning a terrorist attack on a transit facility, and attempting to provide material support to help carry out multiple bombings to cause mass casualties at D.C.-area Metrorail stations.

He was eventually arrested and charged with unauthorized use of a vehicle and fleeing an accident.

Suspect charged with five counts of willfully making a threat/maliciously conveying false information using fire and explosives, and could receive up to 10 years in prison. The charges cover bomb threat calls from five stations in Washington, D.C., between January and July.