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51°
Saturday, apr 27
Tag:
Swatting
Police & Fire
'PlugwalkJoe' Admits Unprecedented Twitter Hack That Included Musk, Kardashian, Biden: Feds
A 23-year-old British citizen who hacked the Twitter accounts of Joe Biden, Elon Musk, Kim Kardashian and Bill Gates, among others, pleaded guilty in federal court to a host of related charges as part of a deal with the government. Joseph James O'Connor -- also known as "PlugwalkJoe" -- technically faces up to 77 years in prison under federal sentencing guidelines but will likely get somewhere between 10 to 20 years when all is said and done. The Liverpudlian hacker admitted during a plea hearing in federal court in Manhattan on Tuesday, May 9, that he committed one of the largest high-pro…
Police & Fire
Swatting Calls Prompt Lockdown At Half-Dozen NJ Schools
At least a half dozen high schools were locked down in New Jersey due to "swatting" calls, authorities said. The Hardyston Township Police Department responded to Wallkill Valley Regional High School after receiving several 911 calls of a potential active shooter situation around 9:30 a.m. Friday, Oct. 14, the department said. Reports of an active shooter prompted a lockdown and a swift police response at the Sussex County high school. Police in Toms River, Ocean County, said on Facebook that they got a call about a possible shooting at High School North around 11 a.m. Friday. Other affe…
Police & Fire
South Jersey Man Arrested In Swatting Incidents
A 28-year-old man from South Jersey has been arrested in connection with a series of "swatting" calls made from a motel room to businesses over the summer, authorities said. Rakim D. Anderson of Willingboro was charged with 13 counts of false public alarm after a three-month investigation, according to Monroe Township police. Between June 23 and July 20, the Gloucester County Emergency Response Center received numerous false and unfounded calls — commonly known as swatting — reporting a person with a gun that was going to shoot themselves, police said. During each call, various…
News
GW
Bridge
Scare
: Claim Of 'Sniper' With Rifle On Lower Level Deemed A Prank
George Washington Bridge traffic was temporarily stopped Wednesday after police received a call from a purported sniper who claimed to be on the lower level. The 6:07 p.m. call turned out to be a "swatting" prank by someone from outside the country who claimed to have a rifle, Capt. Edward Young said. A Fort Lee dispatcher took the call, which came from a blocked number, Young said. Borough police then notified their colleagues at the Port Authority. A command center was established at the Port Authority building near the bridge, the captain said. "The caller eventually revealed that his …
News
Gotcha
! Garfield Man Nabbed After Series Of ‘Swatting’ Threats To Hackensack High School, PD
What seemed like an unending series of phone threats that plagued Hackensack High School and city police for nearly three months led to the arrest of a stock clerk from Garfield, authorities announced. Christopher Vitone, 38, was seized at his job after Hackensack Police Detectives Chris Lara-Nunez and Felix Katsaroans identified him as the "swatter" responsible for one of the calls, which was made to Hackensack police on June 16, Detective Capt. Michael Antista said Monday. An investigation was continuing into more than a dozen other bomb threats and false alarms to both the city Boar…
News
Prank Call Of Man Who Shot Cheating Wife Brings Police, SWAT To Maywood Neighborhood
The latest in a growing number of "swatting" incidents unnecessarily brought a squadron of police and tactical team members to an otherwise quiet Maywood neighborhood just off Route 17. A phony caller told police he had just shot his wife twice in the chest and was holding his neighbor at gunpoint after finding them having an affair shortly before 3 p.m. Sunday, Maywood Police Chief Terence R. Kenny said. Borough police converged on West Magnolia Avenue with their colleagues from Rochelle Park. A Bergen County Regional SWAT team was summoned. Police got the shocked residents out unharmed, …
News
Swatting
: Tactical Units, Hackensack Police Respond To Another Bogus Call From Same Number
Yet another in a series of bogus "emergency" calls brought a SWAT team and other responders to a Hackensack home while forcing yet another high school lockdown early Tuesday afternoon. The May 3 "swatter" used the same bogus local phone number that was connected to a series of threats to Hackensack High School in March, city Police Capt. Darrin DeWitt said. Students, staff and particularly parents and law enforcers had grown irritated by the recent string of calls, including one in which a threat was made to shoot up the school. This time, members of a Bergen County Regional SWAT Tea…
News
Swatting
: Bogus 'Dad Shot Mom' Call Brings Dumont Police, Tactical Team To Quiet Cul-De-Sac
The latest in a growing number of "swatting" incidents unnecessarily brought a SWAT unit to an otherwise quiet Dumont cul-de-sac. A phony caller told police his father had shot his mother and then locked himself in a room at a home behind the White Beeches Golf and Country Club around 3:30 p.m. Monday, April 25, investigators said. Borough police converged on the scene and summoned a Bergen County Regional SWAT team. A nearby school went into a brief lockdown and an EMS unit remained on standby. The homeowner emerged with two daughters and the house was checked as a precaution. The area w…
News
Update
: 'Jilted Boyfriend' Bomb Threats Plague NJ High Schools
It's becoming too familiar: A male caller tells police he's a jilted boyfriend who intends to shoot or blow up a school. Streets are closed, students are locked down or sheltered in place and bomb-sniffing dogs are brought in. Sometimes parents become fearful and converge on the school. It happened three times in Bergen County this past week. Hackensack High School was targeted twice, once prompting a brief evacuation and another time a shelter-in-place. It happened again on Friday, April 1 at Ridgewood High School. "A male caller called the main police number spoke with central dispatch…
News
'Swatting' Call Forces NJ Grandma, 95, Out Into Cold
A 95-year-old grandmother and a woman in her 60s had to be temporarily removed from their Passaic home on a frigid night because of a bogus "swatting" call to police, authorities said. The call came in shortly before 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 23, from someone who "stated that he harmed his wife and child and had his neighbor hostage" at the Poplar Street home, Passaic Mayor Hector Carlos Lora said. Police set up a perimeter and eventually escorted the two women to an ambulance to keep them warm, the mayor said. Neighbors also had to spend some time outside as members of the Emergency Respons…
News
Swatting
: Bogus 911 Calls Bring Tactical Responders To Same NJ Home Twice
Officers in tactical gear converged on a Fair Lawn neighborhood shortly after 2:30 a.m. recently after a 911 caller who claimed to be 13 told them she'd been kidnapped and held there against her will. They ordered everyone out of the house with their hands up before discovering that they'd been pranked, a resident said. Police got another 911 call via the NYPD that appeared to come from the same house around 9 p.m. last Wednesday. This time, a suicidal man was threatening to slit his throat with a kitchen knife. Bogus again, police said. "With both calls, the voices appeared to have been …
News
'I Shot Everyone In The House': Bogus 'Swatting' Call Brings Tactical Unit To Bergenfield Home
A caller who said he "shot everyone in the house" brought police and a Bergen County Regional SWAT unit to an unoccupied Bergenfield home on Saturday in what turned out to be a "swatting" incident. The lone resident of the Turnure Street home was at work and unaware of the bogus call made to police around 11 a.m., responders said. Authorities quickly determined the call was unfounded and cleared the scene. Deploying SWAT teams and additional personnel to unsuspecting victims’ homes and businesses -- as well as to schools that end up being locked down -- can put people in danger while diver…
News
'I Shot My Parents': Bogus Call Brings Police From Several NJ Towns
A caller had just told a Montvale police dispatcher that she'd just shot her parents. Law enforcement colleagues from Hillsdale, Park Ridge and Woodcliff Lake immediately mobilized to assist their Pascack Valley colleagues Saturday night. Officers went to the parents' house and didn't find anyone home. They checked out at least one other claim the caller made that was bogus, too. "It was called in from out of state," Police Chief Joseph Sanfillipo said. "An investigation is ongoing." Authorities don't consider "swatting" pranks amusing. Summoning police from surrounding towns, depl…
News
'I Just Shot My Father': Bogus North Jersey Call Draws Mass Response
A throng of police and tactical units descended on a Palisades Park garden apartment complex Friday night in response to what turned out to be a bogus 911 call of a man with a bomb strapped to his chest. The swatting incident forced the evacuation of the West Central Boulevard complex off Grand Avenue after a 911 caller told a dispatcher around 9 p.m. that "I just shot my father," Detective Alex Monteleone said. Units were rushing to the site when the swatter called again, saying he'd shot his dad a second time, he said. The third time, he said he had a pipe bomb strapped to his chest that…
Police & Fire
Swatting
Incident
: 'Shots Fired' Report At Garden State Plaza Turns Out Bogus
A call to Paramus police that shots were fired Wednesday morning at the Garden State Plaza proved bogus, authorities said. None of the businesses had opened yet at the mall -- although mall walkers and workers were there -- when the "swatting" call came in around 8:30 a.m. that shots had been fired at the T-Mobile kiosk. Various law enforcement agencies joined Paramus police and a through search was conducted. All were released within 45 minutes. Authorities determined that the call came from Texas. Mall businesses were scheduled to open as usual at 11 a.m. "Swatting" incidents peaked na…
Police & Fire
Swatting
: Bogus Hostage Call Brings SWAT To Quiet North Jersey Neighborhood
A fake Mother's Day call of a man who’d taken hostages brought a SWAT team to a Franklin Lakes home, authorities said. Police cordoned off the area around the Oldwoods Road residence after receiving the 3:15 p.m. call Sunday, Capt. John Bakelaar said. They determined in less than an hour that they’d been subjected to a “swatting” incident, Bakelaar said. “There were no issues at the residence and the telephone call was illegitimate in nature,” he said. "Swatting" incidents peaked nationwide about five years ago but have since subsided somewhat. Authorities say deploying SWAT teams and ad…
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