The opening of UCLA’s first-round game in San Diego was
delayed until 3:20 p.m. today as a bomb-sniffing dog smelled a
suspicious package near a hot dog stand inside Cox Arena on San
Diego State’s campus this morning.
The arena was evacuated while law enforcement officials searched
the building and investigated the suspicious package. A team of 12
bomb technicians from the San Diego Fire Department inspected the
arena with a remote controlled robot.
The dog “alerted” on the package at about 9:40 a.m.,
but it was not clear how many people were in the building at the
time. Fans of both teams were not allowed to enter the building
until 10 a.m.
The first round game between Alabama and Marquette was expected
to tip off around 11:40 a.m., but now is projected to tip off at
12:50 p.m. This will delay the following game between UCLA and
Belmont, which is now expected to tip off at 3:20 p.m.
At around 11:35 a.m., fans were allowed to re-enter the
building.
Following the incident, the NCAA released a statement saying:
“We will continue to remain vigilant in our security planning
throughout our tournament, and the safety and security of our
student-athletes, teams and fans is paramount.”