Hostage Situation in Stratham Deemed 'A Hoax'

A number of emergency alert notices on Twitter reported that there is a hostage situation at the Stratham Irving on Portsmouth Avenue tonight around 8:45 p.m. but the entire thing turned out to be a hoax, according to the Stratham Police Chief John Scippa.

Scippa updated news media outlets at the scene around 10:40 p.m. He said the incident appeared to be similar to one that occurred in Rye in April but he did not know if the situations were related.

Multiple agencies, including local police and the New Hampshire State Police, were reportedly on the scene at just before 9 p.m. for a hostage situation. All area roads were closed earlier. Exeter Police are asking everyone to stay clear of Route 108 north of the Route 101. Emergency responders are not giving out the exact address in order to ensure officer safety, according to alerts.

Jason Schreiber of the New Hampshire Union Leader reported about 20 minutes ago that police stated that two employees were out of the store. He said a SWAT team was also at the scene. At around 9:40 p.m., he reported that the scene appeared to be de-escalating and might be a hoax.

According to The Kiwi Magazine Twitter feed, pipe bombs were reported inside the gas station and at least one hostage had a gun to the head but the reports were not confirmed.