Hundreds evacuated in California university bomb scare

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - More than 450 students were evacuated from dormitories at University of California Davis and spent the night in a cafeteria after police found explosive materials in a student's room, officials said on Thursday.

Police arrested Mark Christopher Woods, 19, an economics major from Torrance, California, on charges of possessing chemicals to make explosives and having explosive materials on school grounds, police and school officials said.

Terrorism was not suspected.

"We evacuated students as a precaution. We do not expect further disruption to the university," Fred Wood, vice chancellor for student affairs, said in a statement.

"We are confident that university police and other local law enforcement agencies have the situation contained."

The university said it evacuated 455 first-year students at around 9 p.m. on Wednesday (12 a.m. EST on Thursday) after police got a telephone tip about the suspected explosive materials.

The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said in a statement a search began about 5 a.m. and continued through the day. The ATF forensic laboratory will analyze the evidence.

Davis is located between the state capital, Sacramento, and San Francisco.

(Reporting by Adam Tanner; Editing by Peter Cooney)