Part of South Main Street in Pennington Borough was shut down Oct. 3 while police investigated a call – later deemed to be a hoax – from a man who claimed he was going to hurt his family, according to the Pennington Borough Police Department.
The Hopewell Township Police Department communications center received a call at 4:50 p.m. from a man claiming he had seriously injured his wife and was about to jeopardize the safety of his children, police said.
The caller, who claimed to be suicidal, asked for police to come to his home on the first block of South Main Street, police said. He also said he was distressed and he would shoot at police officers.
Meanwhile, the Pennington Fire Co. shut down South Main Street until police could arrive to assess the situation and bring it under control.
A Pennington Borough police officer went to the address and determined that it was a hoax/swatting event. There was no danger or threat to any Pennington residents, police said.
Swatting calls are prank calls to emergency services in an attempt to dispatch armed police officers to a particular address, police said. They are popular with online gaming players, according to police.
Anyone with information about the swatting call is asked to contact Pennington Borough Police Officer Daniel D’Ascoli at (609) 737-1679 or by email at [email protected].