Barnegat Residents Report Hearing Multiple Shots Fired

Officers from multiple police departments and tactical units were in the area of Longboat Avenue in Barnegat late Wednesday night after a number of callers reported hearing six shots fired, according to the Scanner News New Jersey Facebook page.

Five people from Longboat and Starboard avenues called to report they heard multiple shots, the post says.

Authorities have responded to the scene and are also checking the Lexington development, the report says.

It's a nervous night for many residents in the Southern Ocean County as police continued their search to locate Arthur William Buckel, who escaped from Bayside State Prison on Tuesday morning.

Barnegat police also released photos of Buckel from security cameras at CVS Wednesday morning; they also released a photo of what Buckel would look like if he shaved his face.

Buckel, 38, who had been at Bayside State Prison after sentencing on a burglary conviction, is the same man convicted of slapping a 10-month-old Barnegat girl to death on Labor Day weekend in 1995, Hudson County court officials and the state Department of Corrections confirmed Wednesday afternoon.

Barnegat and Ocean Township (Waretown) schools will be open on Thursday. But if Buckel is not apprehended, officers will be present at schools for the entire day, according to the police departments' Facebook pages.

Patch will update as soon as more information is available.