Bomb Hoax Culprit Sought In Freehold Movie Theater Threat

FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP, NJ – A threat of “multiple bombs” at the AMC Freehold Movieplex at Freehold Raceway Mall was found to be a hoax, and authorities are now searching for the culprit.

Authorities sounded the “all clear” shortly before 7 p.m. after no explosives were discovered, Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni said Monday evening.

An employee at the theater discovered a note in the men’s bathroom shortly before 5 p.m., said Charles Webster, spokesman for the prosecutor’s office. The note indicated that there were multiple bombs in multiple theaters set to detonate at a specific time. Theater management immediately evacuated the building and notified the Freehold Township Police Department, sparking a response from K-9 units from the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office, Middletown and Wall police departments, New Jersey Homeland Security, Freehold Independent Fire Company, and Freehold First Aid, Webster said.

Scott Napolitano, a teacher at Howell High School who was at the theater watching “Brooklyn” when the evacuation began, tweeted about the incident, saying, ”Pretty calm departure. Patrons were confused but patient.”

By 6:51 p.m. the theater was cleared of any potential explosives, Webster said.

A joint investigation by the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office and the Freehold Township Police Department is active and ongoing, he said.

Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Pamela Riccardi, of the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office at 1-800-533-7443, and Detective Daniel Valentine, of the Freehold Township Police Department, 732-462-7908.