Samad/Getty A soldier guards a street as crowds race to watch parade after witnessing US President Barack ceremony Tuesday. WASHINGTON - For a city whose population suddenly swelled to more than twice its size Tuesday, relatively few troubles were reported by a massive security force guarding the inauguration.
Most of the headaches dealt with by police, fire, National Guard and Red Cross "go teams" involved medical emergencies related to the cold weather.
Some Obamaniacs didn't dress warmly enough for bitter temperatures in the 20s. There also were scattered reports of seizure and heart attack casualties.
At least a dozen suspicious packages were reported - but most were backpacks discarded by ticketholders.
Early Tuesday morning, U.S. Park Police alerted their force several times to be on the lookout for a New Yorker called a "person of interest" who drives three vehicles with variations of President Obama's last name on the plates.
But one D.C. police sergeant on the street said he had heard of no threats, and officials later said the report was not urgent.
U.S. counterterrorism officials also confirmed an Associated Press report that the FBI and Homeland Security Department had issued a bulletin to police late Monday about a possible threat from a terror group.
The Secret Service - taking no chances - positioned countersniper teams on rooftops. FBI and Homeland Security agents watched from every high place overlooking the National Mall and the Pennsylvania Ave. parade route.
Al Shabaab, an Al Qaeda-affiliated Somali insurgent group, had expressed interest in Obama's inaugural, officials said. But officials also downplayed any threat. Russ Knocke, a Homeland Security spokesman, said the Al Shabaab intelligence was "of limited specificity and uncertain credibility."
Elsewhere, Capitol police radios crackled in the hours leading up to Obama's swearing-in with desperate calls from cops swamped with throngs crashing fences in ticketed areas and with a handful of kids and elderly separated from families. But only one peaceful protest was reported: activists who want the Guantanamo Bay terror prison closed.
"As of 6 p.m., no one had been arrested by any agency - unheard of for a crowd that size," said a senior federal agent.
Trying to get into - and out of - the city was challenging, with the subways jam-packed and every bridge from Virginia closed to all but foot traffic. A woman was struck by a train, which caused delays.
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