The canisters left at a Carneys Point truck stop hinted at high-powered weaponry inside. Not true, it turns out, as first responders did a fine job defusing the situation.
It hasn't happened often in South Jersey, but when it did this past weekend, the response to a call about ominous military-style containers -- at a busy Salem County truck stop -- appeared to have been handled with both appropriate concern and absence of panic.
The report came in around 10:30 p.m. Saturday at the Flying J Travel Plaza off U.S. Route 140 in Carneys Point Township. A man driving a truck had placed the two items, one marked "Projectile" and another marked "Ammunition" near some gasoline pumps.
Responding were the Carneys Point Township Police, who, in turn, called in the New Jersey State Police Bomb Unit. Authorities moved people away from all of the plaza's fuel pumps, shut down traffic on U.S. 140 ramps connecting to Interstate 295, and evacuated the main Flying J store and a Denny's restaurant that shares the site.
The bomb unit ultimately determined, without needing to detonate the canisters, that they were empty. The episode was over about two hours later, and everything returned to normal.
Two days later, we still don't know if we were dealing with a wildly inappropriate prankster, a terrorist or terrorist sympathizer, or an addled military gear collector who mistook the truck stop for a landfill where he could dispose of surplus memorabilia. Frankly, a canister marked "Projectile" sounds like something Wile E. Coyote would order by mail to use against the Road Runner. Was it emblazoned with "ACME Corp."?
Seriously, though, this was one case where "See something, say something" worked the way it was supposed to work, with no harm or injury to anyone.
Ever since 9/11, our region of the country has been on edge concerning unattended packages and threats, real or perceived, to transportation venues. Earlier last week, people at two Kennedy Airport terminals apparently mistook a loud celebration of a Usian Bolt sprinting victory seen on the TV monitors for rounds of gunfire. The incident sparked such a chain reaction of commotion that U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., is calling for an investigation.
Back in Carneys Point, relative calm ensued. But, the canister case highlights that we live at a crossroads where the unusual can, and does, happen occasionally. The New Jersey Turnpike and I-295 are major gateways to Washington, D.C. and points South, and New York City and points North.
Authorities reportedly know who left the items at the truck stop and will call him in for questioning. If his actions were deliberate in order to stoke fear and panic, he should be charged criminally.
In the meantime, kudos to the employees or travelers who called in the suspicious incident, and all the fire, police and emergency units that responded. Next time it could be the real thing. This time we dodged a bullet -- or, a projectile.
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