Game of Tag Prompts Sudden Train Stop

An Amtrak passenger train made an unscheduled stop Sunday night in Chatsworth Park because the engineer thought he saw a person standing near the tracks shooting at the oncoming train, authorities said.

The engineer radioed police and stopped the train shortly before 9:30 p.m., checking to see if any passengers had been injured and if the train had been damaged. Police arrived moments later and spotted a group of young people who appeared to be holding guns.

But the guns turned out to be toy weapons equipped for shooting harmless laser beams, not bullets, and the shooters were really participants in an evening game of laser tag, a variant of hide-and-seek in which players “shoot” each other with toy guns, Los Angeles Police Sgt. Ted Demaegt said.

Police briefly questioned the players and allowed them to leave after determining that they had not committed a crime. But seven less fortunate young people who were found loitering near the tracks were arrested and jailed on suspicion of trespassing, Demaegt said.