Man Admits Threatening Point Boro Schools, Setting Backpack On Fire At Group Home

TOMS RIVER, NJ — A Point Pleasant Beach man has pleaded guilty making threats made to two Point Pleasant schools and to setting fire to a backpack at a Manchester group home where he lived, the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office said.

Shaun Giberson, 40, pleaded guilty before Superior Court Judge Michael T. Collins to terroristic threats and to arson in two unrelated incidents, the prosecutor's office said. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 25, and the prosecutor's office will be seeking a term of five years in prison for each charge, to run concurrently.

Giberson admitted he called Point Pleasant High School and Nellie Bennett Elementary School on March 18, 2021, and left threatening messages on the voicemail at both schools, Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer said.

The messages were left anonymously and referred to the 1999 Columbine shooting massacre and the murder of students, Point Pleasant police said at the time. The threat did not result in any evacuations, they said.

Giberson made the calls from a local motel, police said. He was arrested later that day and has been in Ocean County Jail since, Billhimer said.

Billhimer said the arson happened Aug. 18, 2020. Manchester Township police were called to a group home about a report that a backpack had been set on fire. Investigators determined Giberson had intentionally lit it on fire, and he was arrested but was released on a summons, the prosecutor said.

Billhimer praised Supervising Assistant Prosecutor Michael Abatemarco, who is handling the case, and the Point Pleasant Borough Police Department and Manchester Township Police Department on their investigations, leading to Giberson’s arrest and guilty pleas.

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