Another bomb threat prompts closure of 3 piers at San Diego naval base

A bomb threat carved into the wall of a portable toilet at Naval Base San Diego prompted an hours-long closure of three piers Tuesday, Navy officials said.

The message was spotted about 8:10 a.m. on an inside wall of a toilet on Pier 7. Ship maintenance was halted and the pier — along with Piers 6 and 8 — was evacuated and closed. Nothing suspicious was found and the piers reopened about 11 a.m., said Tina Stillions, public affairs officer for the base.

The threat was the 19th to target the base since November and the fourth this month, with Pier 7 being the subject of a number of those threats, Stillions said.

The first was found on a portable toilet in a ship on Nov. 6. Ten of the threats were found on portable toilets, on bathroom doors or on structures inside ships. Seven were found on portable toilets on piers. The locations of two threats were not specified.

The Naval Criminal Investigative Service is offering a reward of up to $10,000 for information that leads to an arrest in the threats. Stillions said she couldn’t comment on what kind of evidence investigators were sifting through, or whether surveillance footage was involved.

“Threats of this nature are serious offenses requiring a significant response from law enforcement and enhancement to our force protection measures,” Special Agent in Charge Gunnar Newquist said in a statement. “We continue to work this investigation with full confidence in identifying and prosecuting the individual (or individuals) responsible to the fullest extent possible.”

lindsay.winkley@sduniontribune.com

Winkley writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune.