A Department of Defense training exercise turned disastorous for one unassuming bystander at a hotel on Tuesday night in Boston, the FBI said.
The FBI said it was assisting the Department of Defense with a training exercise in the northeastern city when agents detained a man who was not involved in the exercise in his hotel room.
The detained man was a Delta Airlines pilot who was handcuffed and interrogated for nearly an hour before the agents realised their error, according to CBS Boston.
“Based on inaccurate information, they were mistakenly sent to the wrong room and detained an individual, not the intended role player,” the FBI said in a statement reported by ABC News.
The FBI, in its statement, extended its apologies for the situation.
“Safety is always a priority of the FBI, and our law enforcement partners, and we take these incidents very seriously,” said the federal agency. “The Boston Division is reviewing the incident with DOD for further action as deemed appropriate.”
According to the FBI, the person who was apprehended was not injured. Nevertheless, a spokesperson for the US Army Special Operations Command confirmed that Boston police responded to the scene.
“The training was meant to enhance soldiers’ skills to operate in realistic and unfamiliar environments. The training team, unfortunately, entered the wrong room and detained an individual unaffiliated with the exercise,” the spokesperson, Lt Col Mike Burns, told ABC News.
Lt Col Burns said his command is reviewing what went wrong during the training exercise with its partners and extended his apologies to the man whose night was unexpectedly interrupted.
“The safety of civilians in vicinity of our training is always our number one concern,” he said.
Delta Airlines also issued a statement in the aftermath of the reported apprehension of one of its unsuspecting employees.
“We are looking into reports of an alleged incident in Boston that may involve Delta people,” the airline said in a statement reported by CBS Austin. “We have nothing further to share at this time other than to reaffirm our commitment to ensuring the safety and well-being of our people.”
