Teen traveled from Brooklyn to Lyndhurst, NJ to make bomb threat

LYNDHURST — A 15-year-old Brooklyn boy was charged in connection with a bomb threat against Lyndhurst High School on Oct. 7.

The teen traveled to the Bergen County community on Oct. 7 via public transportation and met up with students from the school around 11 a.m.,  according to police Lt. Vincent Auteri. The students went back to class while the teen called a bomb threat through 911.

The dispatcher who took the call could not identify the caller because he used technology to conceal his identity, police said.

The school was put on lockdown and later 825 students were forced out. The Bergen County Sheriff's Office K-9 unit searched the property but did not find a bomb.

Spoke to police the day of the threat

As police and staff were responding to the threat, the school's special law enforcement officer noticed someone who was not with the rest of the student body. When asked the student told the officer he was from Brooklyn and was meeting up with a student he met online while playing video games.

A crossing guard told investigators they saw the boy near the school just before the threat was received.

The teen was charged Tuesday with creating a false public alarm after admitting he made the threat near the school. He was released to his father.

The Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Cyber Crimes and Intelligence Units and the Department of Homeland Security Investigations Newark Field Office were also involved in the investigation.

“Bomb threats are never amusing and they are never harmless,” Lyndhurst Police Chief Richard Jarvis said. “We will never allow this behavior to stand. We will always track down the perpetrator and hold him or her accountable."

Another bomb threat case

In an unrelated incident, a 14-year-old teen from Alberta, Canada, was charged by Toms River police on Tuesday with making a threat against Intermediate East in Toms River on Nov. 21.

The teen was also charged with a threat earlier in the day against a private home. Law enforcement in Edmonton arrested the teen.

Dan Alexander is a reporter for New Jersey 101.5. You can reach him at dan.alexander@townsquaremedia.com

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