The BostonChannelPolice Investigate Parachute Reports On DNC Eve
Officers Providing Few Details Of What May Have Been Drill
POSTED: 6:22 a.m. EDT July 26, 2004
UPDATED: 8:04 a.m. EDT July 26, 2004
BOSTON -- State police are still investigating reports that parachutists landed near the FleetCenter Sunday night, but there is little information about what may have been only a security drill.
The FleetCenter is the site of the Democratic National Convention, which begins Monday night.
NewsCenter 5's Gail Huff reported that military police called in reports just after midnight that two parachutists had landed in the yard of the Charles River Park condominium complex. Additional reports indicated there were also parachutists on the top of the Tip O'Neill Federal Building located next door to the FleetCenter.
Before police helicopters arrived, officers on the ground covered the area, sending officers to the roofs of the buildings. SWAT teams went to the top of the federal building. All available state and local officers responded, some with K9 units. Nothing was found and state police said no one was arrested.
Sunday was a busy day for officers patroling the city, harbor and skies around the FleetCenter. On city roads, unscheduled stops were the norm for many truck drivers trying to get through the city's roads and tunnels. On the city's mass transit system, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority was also conducting random searches of commuters, who were advised to travel lightly.
During demonstrations on Beacon Hill Sunday, state police officers were wearing full riot gear, ready for combat. Armed, camouflage-wearing soldiers are patroling the old elevated railway near the FleetCenter in groups of threes, and bike-riding Boston police officers were blanketing the parks.