Police on Saturday temporarily dispersed a crowd of concertgoers in downtown Indianapolis after a man made a bogus bomb threat to get ahead in line at a free performance featuring Doja Cat, according to reports.
A man, now in police custody, claimed to others that he had a bomb before 5 p.m., while queuing for a concert held as part of the festivities ahead of Monday’s College football national championship game, The Indianapolis Star reported.
The crowd was cleared for about 20 minutes, according to the paper.
“A fan wanted to advance in line so he exercised very poor judgment and told those around him in line he had a bomb in his backpack,” Deputy Chief Joshua Barker said in a text message, according to the publication. “Someone did the right thing and alerted IMPD. The backpack was clean.”
On Twitter, the Minneapolis Metropolitan Police Department announced officers arrested the man who witnesses said falsely claimed he “had an explosive on him,” and that the suspect had “unrelated outstanding warrants” for which he was also arrested. There was no actual threat and the concert proceeded as usual, the police department said.
Thousands have in recent days flocked to Indianapolis ahead of the College Football Playoff national championship. In addition to the Grammy-nominated Doja Cat, pop band AJR performed on Saturday evening at Monument Circle amid frigid temperatures, according to reports.
The Georgia Bulldogs and Alabama Crimson Tide will face off Monday evening at Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium for the national championship game.