Members Scotty Posted March 16, 2006 Members Share Posted March 16, 2006 San Diego NCAA arena evacuated in bomb scare 4 minutes ago LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Police evacuated an arena hours before a first-round game in the national college basketball championship on Thursday when a bomb-sniffing dog signaled a possible problem at a hot dog stand. Only a few people were in San Diego State University's Cox Arena when it was evacuated, said San Diego Fire Department spokesman Maurice Luque. The 12,000-seat arena was cleared while police tried to determine if there was an explosive device at the hot dog stand, said college spokesman Jack Beresford said. "A bomb-sniffing dog noticed something in a hot dog cart," Beresford said. "They got a hit on something that was in the cart itself." Players for Marquette University and the University of Alabama, whose game was scheduled at 11:40 a.m. PST (2:30 p.m. EST), had not arrived, Luque said. He said the police bomb squad was using a remote-controlled robot to examine a suspicious package found on top of the cart during the routine sweep. Four games were scheduled for the arena on Thursday in the National Collegiate Athletic Association tournament, college basketball's marquee event. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members alwaysAMC Posted March 16, 2006 Members Share Posted March 16, 2006 I just saw this on the news...really sucks! Hopefully games go on as scheduled and nothing more happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Scotty Posted March 16, 2006 Author Members Share Posted March 16, 2006 Here is an update: San Diego Arena Evacuated Before NCAA 2 minutes ago SAN DIEGO - The arena for the first-round NCAA men's tournament game between Alabama and Marquette was temporarily evacuated Thursday after bomb-sniffing dogs found a suspicious package about two hours before tipoff. The dogs detected the package inside a 4-by-6-inch condiment container in a vendor cart outside Cox Arena at San Diego State University. A bomb robot was sent to the scene, FBI spokeswoman Jan Caldwell said. The all-clear was given about two hours later and fans were to be allowed in once security staff took their posts inside the arena, university spokesman Jack Beresford said. He did not know any details about the container. A new start time for the game would be the NCAA's decision, he said. At the outset of the incident fans and officials were told to gather behind a parking structure across the street. Players and staff from Alabama and Marquette stayed at their hotels. The FBI warned last week of a recent Internet posting discussing terrorists attacks aimed at college basketball arenas and other sports stadiums, but also said there were no specific or credible threats. Authorities were alerted at 9:18 a.m., before the scheduled 10 a.m. opening of the arena, and evacuated a "handful" of vendors who were inside, said Maurice Luque, a spokesman for the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department. "It was some type of package that was described as looking like a small briefcase or a box," Luque said. Hundreds of Alabama and Marquette fans milled around in parking lots waiting for information. Some were not aware a suspicious package was found. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members alwaysAMC Posted March 16, 2006 Members Share Posted March 16, 2006 Thanks for the update...wow - I would be kinda weary of getting back in that arena...but the games have to go on! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members King Posted March 16, 2006 Members Share Posted March 16, 2006 PHEW! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members OneLife Fan Posted March 16, 2006 Members Share Posted March 16, 2006 Damn!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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