Allentown High School Target of Unfounded Bomb Threat

A Monmouth County school was evacuated for the second day in a row following a bomb threat.

Police response to threat at Allentown High School in Upper Freehold (Twitter)

A call was received on the switchboard of Allentown High School in Upper Freehold around 10:15 a.m. Thursday from a male claiming to have a bomb inside the high school, according to acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni. The call prompted officials to evacuate the school along with the adjacent Stone Bridge Middle School and Newell Elementary School, which are all part of the Upper Freehold School Disctrict.

Texts and automated phone calls were sent to parents alerting them to the situation.

The New Jersey State Police tactical team, the Monmouth County Emergency Response Team and the FBI all responded as students were evacuated to the Allentown Presbyterian Church.

Gramiccioni called the threat a hoax and said that all three schools have been searched with Stone Bridge given a final all clear at 3:20 p.m. Additional searches continue in the other two school buildings.

"Swatting"

St. John Vianney High School in Holmdel was evacuated on Monday after a threat was phoned into the school. No arrests have yet been made.

Gramiccioni said nothing in either case has been ruled out, including a connection between the two threats. He says the threats may be a case of "swatting" in which an individual makes a threat to a school and gets a thrill out of the police response.

The FBI's Kevin Kolbye, an assistant special agent in charge in their Dallas Division says his agency "takes swatting very seriously." He explained that callers often use technology to make their calls appear legitimate Kolbye says the response is an expensive on, sometimes costing thousands of dollars.

“Swatting puts innocent people at risk," says Kolbye.

Anyone with information about the incident should contact the Prosecutor’s Office at 800-533-7443.