Bomb Threat Labeled Swatting Incident In Seaside Heights: Prosecutor

SEASIDE HEIGHTS, NJ — Phone calls claiming bombs had been planted on the Seaside Heights boardwalk and that there were people armed with guns are being investigated as a swatting incident, the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office said Monday afternoon.

Seaside Heights police received four phone calls at about 8:50 a.m. Monday with the callers claiming there were two bombs hidden at businesses on the boardwalk, Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said.

In addition, the callers claimed there were operatives armed with guns on the boardwalk, Billhimer said.

The boardwalk was evacuated while law enforcement assessed the credibility of the threats and searched for possible bombs using K-9s, he said.

The investigation determined the threats were not legitimate and the boardwalk was reopened at 10:30 a.m.

“Based on what we know now, these threats are swatting incidents," Billhimer said. "We will continue to investigate this incident with our local, state and federal law enforcement partners."

The Prosecutor's Office's High Tech Crime, Major Crime-Arson and Homeland Security squads, Seaside Heights Police Department, Ocean County Sheriff’s Office, Ocean County Sheriff’s K-9 Unit, and Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office K-9 Unit responded and are part of the investigation.

Police Chief Tommy Boyd told News 12 New Jersey the threat was believed to be false but law enforcement was not taking chances because of it being the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

The borough and neighboring Seaside Park were the site of a bombing days after the 15th anniversary of the 2001 attacks, when a pipe bomb exploded in a trash can near the route of the Semper Five Marine Corps charity 5K.

No one was injured in that explosion on Sept. 17, 2016; the start of the race, expected to draw about 3,000 people, had been delayed. The bomb exploded about the time the bulk of the runners were expected to be passing that trash can, authorities said later.

Ahmad Khan Rahami of Elizabeth was later convicted in that bombing and in one in Chelsea, New York, that injured several people. He was arrested following a shootout with police in Linden two days later.

Rahami was sentenced to life in prison in January 2020.