By: Najla Alexander
Authorities in Ocean County announced that at approximately 8:50 a.m. on September 11, Seaside Heights Police received four phone calls indicating that two bombs were hidden at businesses on the Seaside Heights boardwalk.
Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer reported that the callers indicated they had operatives armed with guns on the Seaside Heights boardwalk.
According to officials, the Seaside Heights boardwalk was temporarily evacuated as law enforcement assessed the credibility of the threats and utilized K-9s to perform bomb searches.
An investigation by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office High Tech Crime Unit, Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit-Arson Squad, Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Homeland Security Squad, Seaside Heights Police, Ocean County Sheriff’s Office, Ocean County Sheriff’s K-9 Ut, and Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office K-9 Unit, determined that the threats were not legitimate, officials stated.
Authorities say at approximately 10:30 a.m., the boardwalk was reopened.
“Based on what we know now, these threats are swatting incidents. We will continue to investigate this incident with our local, State, and Federal law enforcement partners,” concluded Prosecutor Billhimer.