Belleville Police Charge Juvenile After Bomb Threat To School

BELLEVILLE, NJ — Police have charged a juvenile with making a terroristic threat after a bomb threat was reported at Belleville Middle School last week, authorities said.

According to the Belleville Police Department, there were no students in the building when the threat was made to the school on Jan. 24.

The school was checked by a bomb squad and cleared of any possible threats, police said.

Belleville police provided an update about the situation later that morning:

“All of the students that were on buses have arrived back at the middle school. We have extra police officers still on scene at the middle school. BPD juvenile aid bureau are in constant communication with our schools. We have learned that this non-credible threat has been circulating since yesterday via text message. It is important to note that several students were aware of this this text message and did not notify the school or the police of this incident until today. Please encourage your children to report these incidents to you, the school, or the police. Also keep in mind that BPD cannot release information pertaining to juvenile suspects. This is still an active police investigation and we will continue to update you as soon as additional information becomes available.”

“We are working with the school to resolve this matter and intend to hold whoever is responsible accountable,” police said.

The Belleville Police Department later announced that a juvenile was charged with making a terroristic threat in connection with the Jan. 24 incident.

“We cannot release specific facts regarding juvenile matters,” police stated.

Keep updated with local public safety alerts at the Patch Belleville-Nutley Facebook page. Send local news tips and correction requests to eric.kiefer@patch.com