UPPER FREEHOLD — Speaking at the April 2 meeting of the Township Committee, Township Committeeman Stephen Alexander thanked the New Jersey State Police for their effort in responding to a 911 call that officials later said appeared to be a false alarm.
“I want to thank the police for how well they cleared the area and did their job in what appeared to be a hoax,” Alexander said.
On April 1 at 7:14 p.m., police received a 911 call from an unknown individual who reported a situation at a residence on Ridgeview Way, off Allentown-Davis Station Road (Route 539), Upper Freehold, according to state police spokesman Sgt. Jeff Flynn. Police officers were immediately dispatched to the scene.
Upper Freehold does not have its own police force. The township is served by the state police.
As part of the response, the home on Ridgeview Way was cleared and the residents were questioned. Police did not determine any immediate threat at the location, Flynn said.
As of April 6, no arrest had been made in regard to the individual who made the 911 call. An investigation is continuing into that aspect of the situation.
“We are still looking at every part of the incident so we can figure out who made the call. Nothing has been determined yet,” Flynn said.
The spokesman declined to term the incident one of “swatting.”
According to the FBI website, “swatting” is the practice of making a hoax call to 911 to draw a response from law enforcement, which can include the deployment of a SWAT team.
One day earlier, also in Monmouth County, an incident of a similar nature occurred on March 31 in Holmdel when reports of an armed intruder at the Village Elementary School drew a police response and forced the school to be evacuated.
No intruder was found at the school and the incident is being investigated as a hoax, according to Monmouth County Acting Prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni.