Bomb threat halts Cal League game

An anonymous bomb threat caused police to evacuate fans from Thursday's California League contest at The Diamond between the Class A Advanced Lake Elsinore Storm and Modesto Nuts, officials said.

"At 6.50 p.m. we received a call from the California Highway Patrol, who received a call from an anonymous caller about the possibility of explosives at the stadium," Riverside County Deputy Sheriff Albert Martinez told MiLB.com.

"Lake Elsinore Police Department responded. Once they got there, they checked the outside and did not locate anything. They checked the inside and did not find anything. They also evacuated some people at that time."

The game -- scheduled to start at 7.05 p.m. -- went ahead but was suspended with one out in the sixth inning tied, 0-0.

In a press release issued late Thursday, the Storm confirmed the game was suspended and the stadium cleared after a call regarding "a suspicious package."

"We worked with the Lake Elsinore Sheriff's station to handle the situation peacefully and without incident," the release stated.

Martinez said the police department arrived at The Diamond within three or four minutes of the initial emergency call and it took between 90 minutes and two hours to search the whole stadium.

He added that the caller did not provide any other information regarding a possible location of the bomb within the stadium.

"It was just an anonymous call. When California Highway Patrol transferred the call to us, they hung up," said Martinez, who confirmed that the hazardous device team made the Storm aware of the situation once they arrived at the stadium.

"If they say it is in the dugout, you search the dugout. If there is no idea, then they have to search the whole stadium."

At the time of the suspension, starter Matt Jackson was on the mound for the Storm. He had allowed three hits while striking out five batters over 6 1/3 innings. He was up, 0-1, on shortstop Trevor Story when the game was called after one hour and 50 minutes.

Modesto's Chris Jensen struck out eight batters and issued one walk over six shutout frames.

The game has been rescheduled for 5 p.m. Saturday with the regularly scheduled contest to follow 30 minutes after its conclusion.