The AP is reporting that three people are now in custody after pulling up to the gate of Joint Base-Pearl Harbor in Hawaii with a live mortar round in their vehicle:
#BREAKING HONOLULU (AP) — Military officials: 3 in custody after live mortar round found in their vehicle at gate to Pearl Harbor base. #fox5atl
— FOX 5 Atlanta (@FOX5Atlanta) January 15, 2020
Here’s more from Star Advertiser:
Three individuals are in custody after a security guard at Joint Base-Pearl Harbor spotted potential ordnance in their vehicle at Nimitz Gate Tuesday night, prompting security forces to temporarily shut down all gates at the base, an official said.
Spokesman Chuck Anthony said an Explosive Ordnance Disposal team identified the ordnance as a live mortar round.
“The guard noticed the smell of marijuana…”
Security responded to a vehicle occupied by three civilians at Nimitz Gate at about 10:30 p.m. Tuesday that did not have authorized access at the base.
When the gate guard requested the driver to turn around, the guard noticed the smell of marijuana and saw potential ordnance in plain sight in the car, Anthony said.
The ordnance disposal team immediately responded to the scene while security forces shut down access to the base at all gates.
The team removed the mortar from the vehicle for disposal. No injuries were reported.
Security forces reopened the O’Malley Gate shortly after midnight. All gates reopened to normal traffic shortly before 4 a.m. today.
Anthony said the three individuals remain in the custody of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.
At this time we don’t know anything about the people arrested, only that they were smoking dope with a live mortar round and that they did not have access to the gate of the base. Hawaii News Now adds that “hundreds of cars get turned around usually because drivers end up at the wrong gate.”
I don’t want to jump to any conclusions but it sounds like these people could have been planning something bad. After all, you can’t just drive around with a live mortar round in your vehicle. Munitions like this are tightly controlled by the military. So the question becomes how did they get it in the first place? Also, from what I understand, a mortar round doesn’t have to be fired out of a tube. It can be put somewhere and a timer can be set on it to explode later.
[MAJOR UPDATE]
It turns out that the mortar round was not live after all, that it was just an inert training round:
NAVY TIMES – It was an “inert training round,” Naval Criminal Investigative Service spokesman Jeff Houston said in an email.
“NCIS does not believe that terrorism played any role in the gate incident yesterday and we don’t believe there is any threat to the community,” he wrote Wednesday.
The vehicle’s occupants were released Wednesday. No information was available about them, and it’s not clear if they will face charges.
So I guess you guys we’re right. This was more Bill and Ted than anything else.