First responders participate in drill where man threatens to blow up SunRail train

The scenario may have been staged but it was still pretty dramatic.

A man whose brother was hit by a SunRail train decided to take revenge by putting an improvised explosive device in a backpack and placing it in a pedestrian tunnel under the train tracks, intending to set the bomb off when a train passed over.

The perpetrator even fired fake rounds from a SunRail train that was in place near the pedestrian tunnel in Lake Beresford Park, the epicenter of the faux disaster that took place on Wednesday morning in DeLand.

The drill was part of a program to prepare first responders and others before SunRail's DeLand station opens this summer .

The training scenario included about 70 emergency personnel from federal, state, and local agencies. Crews included the Volusia Sheriff's Office SWAT team, the Florida Department of Transportation, which operates SunRail; the FBI and Volusia County Emergency Management.

"For SunRail, for FDOT, safety is the No. 1 priority," said Matthew Richardson, communications manager for FDOT District 5. "This is part of that plan to increase our safety measures. Before, God forbid, anything were to happen, it's just important for us to understand what might happen so that we know how to respond in that moment."

Lake Beresford Park was closed during the exercise.

The bomb squad robot got to work early in the demonstration. The sheriff's office used it to remove the backpack from the tunnel.

Law enforcement could be seen boarding the train and killed the armed man at some point during the exercise. Fire rescue personnel took "people" who were actually dummies away from the train.

Wednesday marked the 10th anniversary of SunRail's launch. The system connects Volusia, Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties across 49 miles and 16 stations. The DeLand SunRail station at 2491 Old New York Ave., will open sometime this summer.

After the drill ended, law enforcement, firefighters and other officials gathered for a debriefing.

FDOT District 5 Secretary John Tyler thanked them for their effort.

"It was surreal for me to see you guys get on that train and do your job. I hope we never have to do that for real, but I appreciate everybody being here so that this community is ready in case something like this ever happens," Tyler said.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: First responders participate in drill where man threatens to blow up SunRail train