A long and nerve-racking commute

What happened to a thousand or so suburban commuters in Lisle Wednesday is both astounding and unsettling.

A 10-car-long commuter train was stopped after a report of a man on board with a gun. Sheriff's deputies and Lisle police swarmed the station and the train dressed in bulletproof vests and carrying rifles. Three carloads of commuters were asked to get off the train while their belongings were searched. Naperville resident Susan Mlot reported armed police officers came into her car and ordered passengers to put their hands up.

All of this because a Secret Service agent decided to take the train because of the cold, wintry weather. It's surreal.

U.S. Secret Service spokeswoman Kristina Schmidt said the agent told a Metra ticket seller, "I am law enforcement; I am armed," after the agent noticed his service weapon when he reached for his wallet.

But Metra spokeswoman Judy Pardonnet said the Secret Service agent asked the ticket seller if there were metal detectors on the trains, said he was carrying a gun and did not identify himself as a law enforcement officer.

These two very different accounts from two government agencies leave all of us who could easily have been among the victims in a horrific tragedy this week unnerved.

The unanswered questions are unending. What if it wasn't a law enforcement officer? What if it wasn't a miscommunication? Are we to the point where we should have metal detectors at train stations?

If the agent did identify himself, why would the ticket seller call for an emergency response? Is it possible a U.S. Secret Service agent would not properly identify himself in such a situation? Is it possible, nearly nine years after Sept. 11, such an episode could occur so easily? If so, what are Metra and law enforcement doing about it now?

Metra's Pardonnet told Daily Herald Staff Writer Marni Pyke the commuter rail agency is "very confident" in its worker's account of what happened.

Likewise, Schmidt said the "agent acted according to the best of his knowledge."

Lisle police Sgt. Ron Wilke said the agent "obviously didn't explain himself as well as he probably could have."

Well, why wouldn't the ticket agent demand a better explanation?

A handful of passengers on the train seemed more inconvenienced, cold and angry than frightened, but now that a day has passed, shouldn't we all be more concerned?

We're all left to guess what really happened and to wonder, what if?

And what are Metra and the Secret Service doing about it now? What are all our public transit agencies and all our law enforcement agencies learning from it and doing about it now?

For all our sakes, we urge them not to dismiss this disturbing and important teaching moment.