A bomb threat at Naval Base San Diego prompted authorities to evacuate and search a pier for about an hour Thursday, but nothing suspicious was found.

The base remained open.

The base, at 32nd Street, posted this alert on its Facebook page: “There was a report of a bomb threat onboard Naval Base San Diego in the vicinity of Pier 7. The area has been secured. All personnel are being advised to remain clear of the area until further notice.”

A written threat was found near Pier 7 and reported at 8:55 a.m., Navy spokesman Brian O’Rourke said. He said bomb-sniffing dogs searched the pier and found nothing, and the pier was approved to resume business about 10 a.m.


The base has been the target of numerous hoax bomb threats in the past few months, prompting lockdowns and searches by law enforcement.

In early February, Navy officials announced a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in a string of hoax bomb threats made against Naval Base San Diego and BAE shipyards since November. Most of the 11 threats were scrawled on portable toilets on piers.

O’Rourke described those threats as terse phrases like, “bomb – today – on this ship – ISIS.” Nearby ships and piers were evacuated, shutting down operations until searches were completed.

The Naval Medical Center in Balboa Park also had two false alarms recently, on Jan. 26 when a government employee thought she heard three gunshots in a basement and on March 24 when someone thought they saw a man with a gun in the hospital. Four unspent bullets were found in the hospital but no connection was made to anyone with a gun.