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Drill allows multiple agencies to train to react to terrorism on TRAX

Posted at 10:06 PM, Aug 12, 2015
and last updated 2015-08-13 00:06:46-04

SALT LAKE CITY -- Multiple agencies conducted a drill for a mock terrorist attack Wednesday, and the scenario involved an attacker who left a backpack containing a chemical bomb onboard a TRAX train and then got off at the 1940 West station.

As the TRAX train pulled into the station at Salt Lake City International Airport, the mock attacker detonated the device with his cell phone.

Personnel from Salt Lake City Fire Department were on scene first, and they pulled the participants, all willing volunteers, from the train as other agencies responded—working on only a few details about what had occurred.

“We don't want to stage a response, we want to keep it as realistic as possible,” one participant said.

The drill aimed to be realistic, so one TRAX train was even shut down while another operated beside it.

Personnel from Salt Lake City Police Department, the FBI, the Utah National Guard and a joint terrorism task force all participated in Wednesday’s scenario.