Possible Active Shooter At Carrier Clinic Unfounded, Police Say

HILLSBOROUGH, NJ — A initial report of an active shooter and shots being fired on the Carrier Clinic campus on April 16 were unfounded, said Montgomery Township Police.

On Sunday at 7:07 p.m., Montgomery Township Police got a panic alarm at the Carrier Clinic, 252 County Route 601. Immediately after, dispatchers at Somerset County Communications received a call from Carrier Clinic saying there were multiple reports of shots fired on campus, a possible active shooter, said police.

Montgomery Police Officers along with police officers from the Hillsborough, Raritan Borough, and Somerville Police Departments were among the first to arrive and began a search of the campus for potential threats.

Officers found an adult man experiencing a severe mental health crisis in the immediate area who was with a woman, said police.

"He was extremely agitated, aggressive and hostile towards the Officers making threats of violence. The woman accompanying the man physically restrained the subject," said police.

From a safe distance, officers were able to talk to him and actively de-escalate the situation as the woman held and calmed the man, said police.

Additional Officers from Branchburg Township Police, Bridgewater Township Police, Franklin Township Police, Green Brook Police, Manville Police, and Princeton Township Police continued searching the area as well as providing mutual aid support for calls within Montgomery.

"The campus search determined no threat of an active shooter or evidence of shots being fired on the campus," said police.

Officers called the cell phone of the woman with the man in crisis. She said she was his girlfriend and can help keep him calm, said police.

Officers were able to work with the woman to peacefully de-escalate the situation. Officers worked with Carrier Clinic staff to help the man in crisis get voluntary treatment at the facility.

Montgomery Township Police were unable to establish an unlawful use or discharge of any firearms at the Carrier Clinic campus at the time of the call. The initial reports received by security on site and Somerset County Communications of a potential active shooter were inaccurate and may have been the result of miscommunication, said police as a result of an investigation.

The Montgomery Township Police Department thanked mutual aid responders for their help, those included: Branchburg Township Police, Bridgewater Township Police, Franklin Township Police, Hillsborough Township Police, Green Brook Police, Manville Police, Princeton Township Police, Raritan Brough Police and Montgomery EMS.

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