HOULTON – A Canadian national who threatened to blow up a bus surrendered at dawn Thursday after a nine-hour ordeal, police said.

Daniel Thomas Maccabee, 50, allegedly assaulted three women on the bus and claimed to have explosives before it pulled into an Irving gas station in Houlton that doubles as a bus stop, police said. Houlton is about 110 miles northeast of Bangor.

After the driver and seven passengers left, Maccabee remained on the bus, making threats and demands. At one point, he claimed to be experienced in making bombs and said he had worked for the Israeli secret police, said Houlton Police Chief Butch Asselin. Maccabee said he wanted asylum in Canada.

Maccabee, whose last known address was in Madison, Wis., gave himself up just before dawn Thursday as the state police tactical squad prepared to fire tear gas into the bus.

During the episode, Maccabee held what he claimed was a detonator, which had wires running to a bulge under his jacket, police said. After it was examined, police said it appeared to be a Wii video game controller, intercom wire, duct tape and a spiral bound notebook. No explosives were found.

While he was alone on the bus, police sent a video-camera-equipped robot on board so they could communicate with Maccabee, Asselin said.

Maccabee was born in Quebec and is a Canadian citizen, Asselin said.