Walmart evacuated by NJ boy’s YouTube-inspired threat

NEPTUNE TOWNSHIP — An 11-year-old boy inspired by a YouTube video called in a bomb threat that forced the evacuation of a Jersey Shore Walmart store.

Bomb-sniffing dogs were brought in Sunday afternoon after the store received a call stating that there was bomb in the store and people should be evacuated, according to Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni. Route 66 was also closed for several hours during the search.

The boy, whose identity was not disclosed because of his age, told investigators he got the idea to call in the threat from a video on YouTube showing a bomb threat.

“Prank phone calls about bomb threats or guns are not a laughing matter. Resources are being deployed at a cost to taxpayers. Parents have a responsibility to monitor what their children do on the Internet where these ideas can be cultivated,” Gramiccioni said.

K9 units from the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office, Ocean County Sheriff’s Office, NJ Transit Police Department, and Middletown Police Department assisted the Neptune Township Police Department at the scene. The Neptune Township Fire Department and Emergency Medical Services were also deployed to the scene.

Young children have been found to be responsible for some of the threats made to New Jersey schools since the mass shooting in February at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

A 10-year-old boy in Somerset County was charged with making terroristic threats against several Franklin schools in a series of late night emails to a teacher. A 13-year-old Bayonne boy was charged with threatening to "shoot up" several city schools.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ