No bombs found after 2 Calif. threats
LOS ANGELES – When a 911 caller told Southern California police Thursday that there were bombs at two state universities, one campus decided to evacuate thousands of students while the other quietly conducted searches, allowing business to continue as usual.
Such are the judgment calls local officials, jittery after the Boston Marathon bombings, are being forced to make.
The El Monte Police Department, in suburban Los Angeles, received 911 calls at 10:37 a.m. and 10:45 a.m. from payphones about a mile apart in the center of city, said Sgt. Roger Cobian, a spokesman for the department.
“The caller in each said there were bombs at both Cal State LA and Cal State Berkeley,” Cobian said.
Cal State LA’s president decided to evacuate the campus as a precaution at about noon. A bomb squad was dispatched, but nothing was found and the search was called off at about 2:30 p.m., LAPD spokesman Richard French said.
About 350 miles away, in the San Francisco Bay Area, UC Berkeley officials decided the threat was “pretty low risk,” said Lt. Eric Tejada, a spokesman for the campus police department. Officers conducted some searches of the campus but chose not to evacuate.
Gun-control backers vow to try again
WASHINGTON – One day after the demise of gun-control legislation, Senate supporters of the measure vowed to try again, while a leading opponent accused President Barack Obama of taking the “low road” when he harshly criticized lawmakers who voted against key provisions.
“When good and honest people have honest differences of opinion about what policies the country should pursue about gun rights ... the president of the United States should not accuse them of having no coherent arguments or of caving to the pressure,” said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas.
The fate of the bill was sealed in a string of votes Wednesday, when Republicans backed by a small group of rural-state Democrats rejected more extensive background checks for gun purchasers and also torpedoed proposed bans on assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines.
Associated Press
