Police: Fake Call Shuts Down Rutgers NJ Main Campus Overnight

NEW JERSEY – A bomb threat directed at several buildings on the main campus of Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, has proven to be an apparent case of crushinguniversity officials said Thursday.

The swatting, which are false calls to authorities reporting serious crimes designed to attract large emergency responses to one location, forced the College Avenue campus to close and take shelter after the call arrived around 2:15 p.m. Thursday, authorities said.

It is not known which buildings were hit. Campus police and Middlesex County Sheriff’s Office bomb-sniffing dogs searched the areas involved and found nothing nefarious, authorities said.

An initial investigation determined that the incident was likely the result of an “intentional but not credible threat”, they added.

Rutgers police say it’s unclear who apparently made the call. Your investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Detective Bureau at 848-932-8025.

These false threats have become widespread in recent months. In late October, a series of crushing incidents shut down high schools in at least half a dozen New Jersey counties within 30 minutes. No injuries were reported, but authorities were investigating the matter as a targeted attack.

The crash involves a false emergency call regarding a serious crime (an active shooter, in some cases) that forces a full-scale emergency response, directing police and other resources en masse. Similar incidents have been reported across the country in recent days, involving schools from California to Florida, South Carolina and other states.