The exercise carried out jointly with the federal police (FBI) was “intended to improve the skills of the special forces in realistic and unfamiliar environments”, explained the command of the special forces of the Army in a press release.
But the team “entered the wrong room and detained an individual who had nothing to do with the exercise”, added the command, presenting its “deepest apologies”.
“We are reviewing this incident with our partners and no further details will be made public at this stage,” the Special Forces added.
The FBI, whose Boston regional division (northeast) was participating in the exercise, said the incident occurred around 10:00 p.m. local time on Tuesday and that the soldiers had been “erroneously directed to the wrong room, where they had detained an individual who was not the one playing “the bad guy” role in this simulation.
No one was injured but Boston police were called to confirm it was indeed a drill, federal police said.
The police responded to a radio call around half past midnight on Wednesday and went to the Revere hotel to investigate, according to a document seen by AFP.
“On their arrival, they were greeted by (…) law enforcement officers who were conducting an exercise in the building”, specifies the document.
Neither the army nor the FBI specified who was mistakenly detained, but according to the local press, it was an airline pilot who was spending the night at a hotel.