Man's rifle claim leads to NJ school lockdowns

HACKETTSTOWN — A man who made several threatening calls that spurred lengthy lockdowns of a college and public schools was a mystery Monday night as investigators tried to determine a motive for the unfounded threats. The lockdowns, which lasted for about four hours, were imposed after the man made multiple calls to the Warren County communications center Monday morning and claimed he was armed with an assault rifle in the woods behind Hackettstown High School. Schools in Hackettstown, in the northwestern part of the state, and Centenary College kept students inside while police searched the area behind the high school and nearby. Students who arrived at the college campus were told classes were canceled and were ordered to leave. The lockdown ended just before 2 p.m., when officials determined the threat was unfounded. "At this point we don't think that there is any imminent threat to anybody at the high school or anybody at any of the other schools," Warren County prosecutor Scott Ferguson said during a news conference late Monday afternoon. Ferguson said no one reported seeing anyone with a weapon in the area. Ferguson said he expects enhanced security will soon be in place at the high school and in the Hackettstown area, but he didn't provide further details. He also declined to comment on what charges the caller could face. "Obviously this is a very serious incident, whether it was a prank or whether it was something else, and we'll take it very seriously," Ferguson said. "If and when we determine that there's a person to prosecute, I think it'll be taken very seriously because of the nature of the whole entire incident and the significant response that was necessary to protect everyone here in Hackettstown."