A Burlington Northern Santa Fe train was halted in the Texas Panhandle on Tuesday after reports of a possibly armed person on board, prompting a multi-agency search that found no suspects.
The Randall County Sheriff’s Office received a call from BNSF around 9:20 a.m. about the sighting, leading to the train being stopped just east of Dawn along U.S. Highway 60, about 35 miles southwest of Amarillo.
The office’s SWAT team, along with the Texas Rangers and the Texas Department of Public Safety’s Criminal Investigation Division, searched the train and the surrounding area. DPS also deployed a helicopter and drone for the operation. No armed individual was located during the search.
After further investigation, the original reported suspects — described only as two males, with one possibly armed — had been seen on the train west of Hereford. Authorities said they had no indication anyone left the train in Randall County.
Rumors linked the incident to suspects from Fort Sumner, New Mexico, who were wanted for shooting at an officer, but the sheriff’s office stated it never received any information indicating those individuals were on the train.
“BNSF’s resource protection team stopped train traffic due to police activity in the area,” railway officials said in a written statement, according to Fox 4 KDFW. “BNSF fully cooperated with local authorities on site as they responded to the incident.”
The train was cleared to proceed just before 1:30 p.m., according to BNSF.
During the search, the Texas Department of Transportation diverted traffic away from Highway 60. The highway reopened just before 1 p.m.
Authorities urged anyone observing suspicious activity to call 911.
