UPDATE: 'Search' At Monmouth Mall As Freehold Raceway Mall Given 'All Clear'

Monmouth Mall was being ”searched” late Monday while the evacuations at Freehold Raceway Mall ended after a bomb threat, according to reports.

Monmouth County authorities have given the “all clear” at the Freehold scene while Monmouth Mall was being searched late Monday, according to NJ101.5. No other details were provided.

The Monmouth County Police, Fire and EMS Facebook page said authorities were at Freehold Raceway Mall around 8 p.m. Monday night but reported no other details.

“This is all of the information that will be conveyed at this point in time while authorities continue their investigation on the scene. An update will be posted at the conclusion,” the Facebook post said.

Twitter users described seeing police armed with rifles and being rushed out of the Freehold mall.

This is the second threat in six weeks at the mall in Freehold Township, which was the site of a threat April 16.

Last Thursday, a similar incident occurred at the Ocean County Mall in Toms River, which was evacuated in the early evening due to a bomb threat that turned out to be unfounded, one of two incidents that same night. A Plainsboro hospital also went on lockdown due to a call claiming “suspicious activity.”

Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office spokesman Al Della Fave said the office would prosecute the person or people responsible to the fullest extent of the law when they are caught.

The April 16 incident at the Freehold mall was the third case that week of swatting, where someone makes a hoax 911 call while disguising their phone number and its origin, drawing police and often heavily armed SWAT officers to the location of a made-up emergency.

A report of an armed intruder at a Holmdel school in late March prompted a full-scale response that garnered regional news coverage. And the Princeton area has had four “swatting” incidents since April 28, including three separate school threats, police say.

(Photo of Freehold police vehicles outside the mall. With permission of Twitter user Jim Lyster)

This is a developing story. Come back to the Patch for details as they become available.

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