More bomb threats: Freehold theater playing ‘Star Wars’ safe after 2nd evacuation

Several notes found in the men's room of the the AMC movie theater at the Freehold Raceway Mall led to its evacuation Friday — the second such evacuation in one week, authorities said.

Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni said notes that mentioned a bomb, were found around 11:30 a.m, leading to an evacuation of building's 14 theaters, two of which were playing the brand new "Star Wars: The Force Awakens." No credible threat or explosives were discovered by police, including Freehold Police and the Monmouth County Sheriff's Office.

Gramiccioni would not comment further on the content of the notes because of an ongoing investigation.

Joe Hewes of Freehold told New Jersey 101.5 he was watching the Star Wars movie with his 21-year-old daughter Friday afternoon when the when the screen went dark and a woman came into the theater and told everyone to leave. He said everyone in his theater left in an orderly fashion and several police cruisers reported to the theater.

He said the theater had started screening the new movie at 8 a.m. and the theater's parking lot was full. After the evacuation order, many people simply left in their own cars. Theater employees offered free tickets to come back and see the film according to Hewes.

Earlier this week, the same complex was evacuated after an employee found a written bomb threat, the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office said at the time.

In that earlier case, the employee also found a note in a bathroom Monday evening saying bombs had been placed in multiple theaters. But after authorities searched the complex, no bomb or other threat was found.

The theater is at the mall's Route 537 entrance and is a free standing building not attached to the mall.