"Suspicious" Box Poses Question for Arizona Police

Oh Lordy.
I think the police did the right thing, I mean who could have known what was in that?
Even though I know what the outside is, I would be a little worried to see a lone box in the middle of the road.

Haha... I hope the people who did it aren't arrested.

Great timing with whats going-on at the moment in the US, this just goes to show how stupid people are.

Don't get me wrong, I find this hilarious, but I can't justify the waste of taxpayer money. On one hand, it's pretty funny, but on the other, it scared the crap out of some poor people.

I know I've read about another (young) person doing the same thing years ago, and they also called in the bomb squad.

The people must have thought it was a bomb huh? I don't blame them after the bombing in Boston...

Funny but bad timing.

This was probably done in completely good taste, but with society at the moment, and with the Boston bombings, it was a really stupid thing to do. The police definitely did the right thing.

The police did the right thing. It could have had a bob-omb inside.

Regardless, the timing couldn't have been worse.

I would have put a 1-Up inside

I think we don't know enough about whoever left it there, to speculate on what their motives were (it could have been an idiot trying to cause a panic, a kid could have accidentally left it outside after playing with it, or any number of things inbetween).

However, with recent events in mind, the police did the right thing (better be safe than sorry, after all).

Definitely the right response. Could've had a poison mushroom inside!

At least there wasn't any class A mushrooms in them.

@shinokami I'd have put a PLUSH Bob-omb in it!(but I guess it was pretty obvious it wouldn't be a real bob-omb, I mean they don't even exist!)
because if you will troll the people you've got to do it with style!
but I would've waited 'till a less tense moment. pranks are cool, but bomb pranks a short while after a real bombing is being a jerk!

I would have put some mushrooms inside there, just saying.

I bet it was some art school twat. Someone needs invoicing for the police time

@RR529 Agree completely.

@DestinyMan Exactly. This kind of joke won't be like "Hey. There's a Mario thing in the road." It will be more like "Like in Boston! Don't open it!" Very bad timing.

I was hoping to hear they opened it by throwing a koopa shell at the box & it gave out an invincibility star (all plushies of course)

I would have put some quarters in there

Honestly, this is downright offensive given the context that the pranksters are seemingly pulling this off because of the Boston marathon shooting. I guarantee anyone involved would not appreciate this as a prank this soon after the incident. Last week would have been a much different story. It's unfortunately not a laughing matter.

They should have called Mario, not the bomb-omb squad..

There isn't a person in this country who hasn't heard of the infamous incident of the question mark boxes. The people who made them and left them around were obviously doing it in good fun, but the police responded as though it were a threatening situation.

But whoever did this knew about that incident, and knew about the recent bombings. And while I'm sure it was just some kids trying to cause a ruckus, you could say that this was an act of "terrorism." They were trying to make people scared just to do it.

I guess the point I'm trying to make is that the first people shouldn't have gotten in trouble, but whoever did this should. I hope they get caught.

no offense here but i find that a stupid response for the police. Yes terriosts love terrorism but they wouldn't put it in something they considered obvious or stupid looking. I wouldn't have the cops, yes it is a good response but a little overdramatic if you ask me.

Wow. I hope the papers that were inside are enough to give the police some clues regarding who to track down and give a lesson on timing and public sensitivity. There are some things you just don't do... surely they could've waited a month or two to pull a publicity stunt like this?

@zoroarkrules25: It's easy to call the response 'overdramatic' after the package, box, suitcase, whatever been proven harmless. until that point, though, when things are so tense, there's no harm in being careful when lives are potentially at stake.

It's silly to think that the police overreacted because it looks like it does.

That nut who shot up a cinema appeared to think he was Batman villian. I'm sure it's possible that there a some asspiring 'jokers' fantasising about atrocities, out there.

It would be silly to dismiss it, regardless of the climate.

Should've been a Bob-Omb plushie or something inside there instead. xD

They should have put a banana peel inside.

Also it was a funny reference Joke, we are not sure what maniacs are out in this world. ALways good to inspect.

Yeah, not cool. Who on earth thinks it would be a good idea to do that at a time like this? I mean, come on. Prank or not, it's just unfunny and to me seems like a waste of time and concern to the police and citizens involved.

this looks like a package from fangamer...

I will echo everyone else by saying it was not the proper time to be doing this, given recent circumstances.

If this was a prank, I think it was rather tasteless timing. However, we don't know, so it may have been a misunderstanding. Anyways, it was good for the police to be cautious in this case.

I think someone was sending a message that gaming doesn't create violence. Violent people create violence.

It may have been funny, but in reality, with all the messed up things going on in today's world; you don't take chances with people's safety.

The timing of this couldn't have been worse.

Timing was indeed horible. Also, if the pranksters had been smarter they would have put a bit more work into the box and made it look better instead of like a cheap box with a ? on it. I mean, paint it bright yellow at least. If more work had gone into it to make it look better there may have been less chance of it being mistaken for possible terrorist act and instead been seen as humorous.

Personally I'll be waiting for the YouTube video. I mean, who does a prank like this in todays world without the intent of filming it for YouTube??? lol

@theblackdragon Like i said it is a bad time and they were just being careful but i doubt the intent was to scare people.

You never no what's inside... look at Boston.

As if Boston was having it any better.

They could definately waited for a few months. I know I wouldn't approach a ? Block in the middle of the road.

Well, it's either waste time doing this or get a job and discover a reason why you take on oxygen.
Take your pick.

Really crappy timing, whoever did this. Do they not pay attention? o_O

@Five-seveN Dennis Hopper leans forward dramatically
"Bob-omb!"

Hilarious!

@ViRtUaLbOy11 It would have been normally, but not after what just happened in Boston.

@MagicEmperor What does that mean?

whoever put that there is a clever dingdong who waited for the wrong time to place it.

i completely understand the caution taken by police. i mean who knows. especially in light of the marathon bombing. can't trust anything anymore.

They could have at least put a mushroom inside

but regardless of bad taste and wrong timing. still pretty funny. and it made it on the news. good for you guys/guy/girls/girl

With the whole Boston thing still pretty active, I can see the overly cautious approach being justified.

Just glad it was a prank, as I cant even start to imagine how much polititians will cry about videogames making people violent if there wouldve been a bomb in there...

@Five-seveN Ah, I see you're unfamiliar with Super Mario Bros.: The Movie. Be proud. I mean it.

They could have gone the extra mile and suspended it in mid air from a street lamp. Who puts question bricks on the ground, anyway?

Please don't respond to my question; it's retorical. There's a question block sitting on the ground in World 1-1 of Mario 3, as well as every Mario Kart course, well ever...

Maybe "?" block spray-painted in yellow on the asphalt would have been more appropriate as a prank, and probably lasted a lot longer too!

I haven't ever heard of a Mario box with a bob-omb inside

The pranksters did set up this shenanigan right after the various incidents in Boston.

On the other hand, some people of Arizona aren't the brightest people... or at least the politicians aren't.

...I don't know :/

It could have been an accident or a joke, but for many years now, US, Aus, UK and many other countries have been telling citizens to report bags or containers left like this. Even if the Boston bombings didn't happen. police still would have done the same thing, as they should.

I would have had 2 boxes one with a plush racoon leaf and the other one with a plush mushroom.

lol the first thing i thought when i saw the pic was wth ridler? i mean its something you would see in batman for sure but then i thought oh its mario o.o

but aww not even some toy inside or a coin plushie doll?

I sometimes hate how a lot of people don't know about games like Mario and it's items.Seriously,even I wouldn't put explosives in a cute box that has question marks on it.

Also,the policemen/bomb squad there must be dumb.Who the H-E-double hockey sticks would leave a bomb out in the open like that?The people who bombed Boston didn't,and no one expected it.If you want to catch criminal masterminds,you need to think like them.

@Drobotic: "Who the H-E-double hockey sticks would leave a bomb out in the open like that?"

Maybe the riddler, from Batman forever? (from the 90s movie, not the Dark Knight trilogy) After all, he was nefarious and wore a suit with ? marks all over it...

i would have made it a little bit bigger, and put a guy in a yoshi outfit inside of egg in there...no wait, he would have suffocated then, too hot, and no air, hmm...

@StarDust
Yeah,that is true.

Baaaaad timing.

I got an inside source that told me what was on the papers inside the box.

http://tinyurl.com/bnwqxul

I guess the Mario Kart ppl forgot to pick up one of their Mario Kart fake power-up block after the competition. It was still on the road right?

Not funny, after all what happened!