'It Was An Odd Scene To See': Brigantine Beach Deemed Safe, Reopens Following Bomb Threat, Officials Say

BRIGANTINE, N.J. (CBS) – A bomb scare down the shore forced beachgoers off the sand in Brigantine on one of the busiest weekends of the year. Police evacuated Cove Beach on Saturday morning after officials say they received a bomb threat, but reopened the beach hours later after deeming it safe.

The Cove Beach was closed for about four hours Saturday morning after someone left a note with a permit checker claiming that there was an IED device buried in the sand on the beach.

"Usually the cars are going out on the beach, not coming back in," Jared Melot said. "It was an odd scene to see."

Odd and scary, Melot woke up to police evacuating the Cove Beach in Brigantine at about 8:30 a.m. on Saturday. The drive-on beach is located at the south end of Brigantine off of Lagoon Boulevard.

"Obviously the Brigantine Police, they're here all the time," Melot said, "you don't think much of it. But then you see 10 cop cars, SWAT, dogs, makes it a little different."

Melot witnessed the evacuations from his deck overlooking the beach and Atlantic City.

Police say there was never a known or credible threat.

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An officer said the beach was closed as a precaution.

The beach was eventually reopened at about 1:30 p.m. Saturday, which was music to beachgoers' ears.

"I haven't been to the beach all weekend," Theresa Labastida said. "I've been dying to come. I had to work Fourth of July, Fifth of July. This was my only day and I was coming. I was determined."

Police also recorded license plate numbers of vehicles as they left the beach.

CBS3's Howard Monroe contributed to this report.