Bomb Threat Scare at Avila Beach

Tense moments Friday afternoon in Avila Beach as local law enforcement responded to a bomb threat.

It came as huge crowds gathered for the popular Friday night Farmers Market on the Avila Beach waterfront.

The San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Department says at about 4:45 pm the Pismo Beach Police Department received a phone call from a man who claimed to have planted two bombs at Avila Beach.

The Sheriff’s Department moved quickly in response to the bomb threat, evacuating the Inn at Avila Beach and the entire beach itself as a safety precaution.

“We were asked to leave”, one woman said about the beach evacuation, “I know a guy who works here and he told us there was a call about a bomb threat in the hotel and on the beach and so they told us to vacate.”

The Sheriff’s Department worked carefully around the huge crowds that had gathered along the waterfront for the Friday night Farmers Market.

“The person who called in the bomb threat said the bombs were set to go off at 5:20 pm and here we are almost an hour and a half later and still nothing”, said Sheriff’s Department spokesperson Tony Cipolla, “we’re treating this as an active bomb threat but we’re trying to make sure that we don’t cause a panic that’s why the Farmers Market is still going on.”

Many were unaware of the bomb threat investigation, others thought there was a shark sighting on the beach while some were in disbelief.

“I walked down the street and I see the cops and then I looked on the beach and it was all clear and there’s nobody, and I’m like nobody on the beach? Are you seriously kidding me? This is unbelievable!”, said Avila Beach resident Karen Gifford.

The beach remained cleared long after guests at the Inn at Avila Beach were allowed to return to their rooms as a sense of normalcy returned to the town which is packed for the Fourth of July holiday weekend.

“Make sure that we didn’t cause a panic but at the same time make sure that everybody got out safe and secure”, Cipolla said about the bomb threat investigation.

Investigators will now turn their attention to the man who made the telephone bomb threat to Pismo Beach Police which is a felony.

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Authorities are investigating a report of a bomb threat in Avila Beach. The Inn at Avila Beach hotel has been evacuated as a safety precaution.

San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Spokesperson Tony Cipolla says a man called Pismo Beach police at about 4:45 p.m. Friday and told authorities he had planted two bombs, one on the beach and one at the hotel.

The beach and hotel were promptly evacuated.

Cipolla said the man told them the bombs would go off at 5:20 p.m., but nothing happened.

SLO County Sheriff’s deputies are in the process of clearing both locations to make sure they are safe before reopening them.

No bombs or other suspicious devices have been located at this time.

The incident disrupted the Avila Beach Farmer’s Market as well as the many Fourth of July tourists who are visiting Avila Beach.

Traffic has been restricted in the area while authorities conduct an investigation.

We will update this story when new information becomes available.