Bomb Threat Called Into Mahwah High

MAHWAH, NJ - Mahwah High School was placed on lockdown Friday morning after a message left on the school’s answering system said a bomb was set to go off, police said.

The Mahwah Police Department’s Communication’s desk received a call from the school at about 8:05 a.m. that a voicemail message had been left on the school’s answering system, said Chief James Batelli.

The message said that a bomb was set to go off at 10 a.m., Batelli said.

The school was placed on modified lockdown and a bomb threat protocol went into effect, the chief said.

Bomb-sniffing dogs from the Bergen County and Rockland County sheriff’s offices were called in and systematically searched the entire property, Batelli said.

At 11 a.m., authorities determined the school was safe and the threat deemed “not credible.”

Mahwah was one of five Bergen County school districts to receive such threats. Bergenfield, Hackensack, and Waldwick were the other districts were confirmed in other published reports.

Batelli said that these “swatting” incidents are similar to the ones perpetrated by the nine calls reported in Bergen County last week. Twenty-six threats were made against schools in those incidents, Bergen County Sheriff Michael Saudino said.

Those calls, which came from a robotic, computer-generated voice, threatened violence in the form of shootings and bombs, including threats against law enforcement.

Related: 26 Threats Made Against N.J. Schools Tuesday, Authorities Say