A soldier dressed as a suicide bomber for Halloween tried to enter North Carolina's Fort Bragg U.S. Army base and triggered a security alert, including a bomb search and temporary closure of a security checkpoint, military sources revealed Sunday.
The unidentified soldier tried to pass a checkpoint while wearing a costume that appeared to be an explosive vest Saturday evening, the base said in a Facebook post, which has since been removed, according to Military.com.
"Last evening a Soldier attempted to gain access to Fort Bragg through one of our access control points," the removed post stated. "The Soldier was dressed as a suicide bomber with simulated explosive vest. The incident resulted in an emergency response, EOD clearing the entire scene and an extended closure of a gate. Although the incident remains under investigation, initial reports indicate it was a Halloween costume."
The incident allegedly triggered a response from first responders and bomb technicians, as well as a temporary closure of a security checkpoint, reported Reuters. The solider was also admonished by base officials for his actions.
Base officials were not immediately available for comment. It's unclear if the soldier faces any charges.
The base removed the original Facebook post about incident because of comments that were "profane, sophomoric, or did not treat the subject seriously," it said in a follow-up post.
"Unfortunately, we had to remove the entire post because comments on it were either profane, sophomoric, or did not treat the subject seriously," it states. "Please take note that this is a family-friendly website meant to inform and keep our families safe, many of whom have directly felt the effects of real - not costumed - suicide bombers."
Fort Bragg has been the scene of violence in the past. A soldier killed a member of his unit and wounded another during a briefing in 2012, before shooting and wounding himself.
