Nearly 200 passengers evacuated from Amtrak train after report of man with gun

An Amtrak train with nearly 200 people on board was evacuated and all Metrolink service through the Chatsworth Station was halted Friday night after authorities received a report that a man with a gun was seen aboard the Pacific Surfliner.

The Metrolink Operations Traffic Center, which controls rail traffic through Chatsworth, received a call at 6:19 p.m. from a passenger that a gunman was seen on the train, according to Ramon Montenegro of the sheriff’s Transit Policing Division.

Deputies at the Chatsworth Transportation Center at 10040 Old Depot Plaza Road “secured the train and began evacuating the passengers.” Montenegro said. “Then we notified our Special Enforcement Bureau and Amtrak police who are both rolling to the scene.”

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputies were dispatched to the Metrolink station in Chatsworth and were assisting Los Angeles police at the scene, according to Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Burton Brink.

“Amtrak Train 790 – the Pacific Surfliner service, operating from San Luis Obispo to San Diego – is being delayed at the Chatsworth station for police activity,” according to a statement from Amtrak. “All 187 passengers and 5 crew have safely left the train and remain inside the Chatsworth station.”

However, Montenegro said one man remained on the train, citing information from deputies on the scene.

At the Chatsworth station around 8:30 p.m. Friday some 100 passengers were waiting outside the train, which was parked – empty inside – but with its engine running.

One passenger named Alex said he was on the train, headed to San Diego.

“I didn’t see anything. ... The intercom came on and said for us to get off, so we got off ... . There were a lot police cars around,” he said.

Montenegro said deputies on the scene are interviewing passengers to find out what they saw. All Metrolink traffic through the area has been stopped, he said.

Deputies have not begun to search the train, Montenegro said about 9 p.m.

“They are waiting for the Special Enforcement Bureau personnel and Amtrak police to arrive,” Montenegro said. “I believe the SEB deputies will be conducting the search for the man that is still on the train.”

On Twitter, Metrolink said its Ventura County Line Train 121 to Moorpark has been canceled in Northridge due to “police activity.”

“MTAbus9472 will be available for passengers,” they added.

The Los Angeles Fire Department has been dispatched in support of law enforcement, including an ambulance and a battalion chief, said LAFD spokeswoman Margaret Stewart. But she said that was standard support for the incident, not because anyone had been injured.