School Shooting Threat Tied To Freehold Twp. A Hoax; Queens Youth Charged: Prosecutor

FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP, NJ — A juvenile from Queens has been arrested and charged with causing a false public alarm in connection with a threat to shoot up a school that the minor posted on social media, according to the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office.

In a statement released Monday morning, Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni said the juvenile "poses no threat to the safety of students."

The juvenile is accused of creating a fictitious Facebook profile that claimed to be someone from Freehold Township who attended Freehold Township High School, Gramiccioni's statement said. The profile was completely fictitious, the prosecutor's office said; the person does not exist.

The juvenile, who was not identified beyond the information on a hometown, used the profile to post threats about a shooting at an undisclosed school, Gramiccioni's statement said. The threats were a hoax, the statement said.

The juvenile was arrested following an investigation by the Freehold Township Police Department with assistance from the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office and New York City Police Department, the statement said. The prosecutor's office said no further details would be released.

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