NCIS Offers $5K Reward in Bomb Threats at Naval Base San Diego

SAN DIEGO, CA: For the 12th time since last fall, a bogus bomb threat prompted a security alert and evacuations at Naval Base San Diego Thursday.

Base officials evacuated NBSD Pier 7 and the docked USS Essex after the menacing message was found shortly before 9 a.m., Navy spokesman Brian O'Rourke said.

Military police personnel conducted a sweep of the facilities, finding nothing hazardous and sounding an all-clear after about an hour.

Since early November, a dozen bomb threats have been discovered at the installation on the east side of San Diego Harbor and at two adjacent shipyards, according to O'Rourke.

All of the messages have been found scrawled on walls of ships or inside portable outhouses used by workers, the spokesman said. Most have consisted of only a few words and a date.

Investigators suspect that the same person or people may be responsible for most or all of the threats, O'Rourke said.

A $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in connection with the crimes was offered late this morning by BAE Systems shipyard — where, along with General Dynamics NASSCO, some of the messages have been found — and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.

Anyone with information about the threats was asked to call the NCIS at (877) 579-3648 or (619) 556-1364.

—City News Service

(Image via Wikimedia Commons)