NEW YORK, March 28 (UPI) -- A smoking school science project in a backpack on a crowded New York City subway had riders fleeing for their safety.
"This is not a bomb! This is not terror!" Gregory Kats, a New York City College of Technology student, told the New York Daily News he yelled to passengers as they ran.
The 29-year-old computer engineering student was heading home from school when wires on his project short-circuited in his backpack, white smoke escaping and panicking fellow riders.
"They were panicking, and I realized their fear," Kats told the newspaper.
He said he tried to dismantle the device on the platform as he reassured riders it was really a science project.
A police bomb squad was dispatched, and police detained Kats for questioning.
Kats was released a few of hours later, science project in tow, without being charged, police said.
