San Diego Reader

A bomb scare temporarily shut down a section of Broadway downtown for about 45 minutes Tuesday afternoon. An employee of Ra Sushi Bar reported that numerous police vehicles flooded the street around 2:00 p.m., forcing onlookers and pedestrians into nearby buildings. “A police officer saw us looking around and said, ‘You guys can’t be out here — we need everybody off the street.’”

Businesses in the area were ordered to cease operations, and patrons were evacuated through the restaurant’s rear entrance. At approximately 2:30, an explosion sounded outside. The street was quickly re-opened, though fire crews remained outside the US Grant Hotel on Fourth Avenue for another half hour.