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The Bergen County Police Department Bomb Squad and K-9 unit “did a sweep with negative results following a telephonic threat to the hospital” at 2:30 a.m., BCPD Capt. James Mullin said.
The caller said the hospital had five minutes before a bomb would go off and then hung up, a law enforcement source told CLIFFVIEW PILOT.
The call lasted no more than 20 seconds and also included a reference to Allah, the source said.
“It was hard to hear,” the source told CLIFFVIEW PILOT. “He talked fast and mumbled. It sounded like some jerk.”
City police summoned the Bergen County Sheriff’s Office and the BCPD and the hospital’s interior, perimeter and parking garage were searched, authorities said, adding that the task was completed around 5:30 a.m.
Sources told CLIFFVIEW PILOT that a suspect was stopped in a car at the ShopRite parking lot on River Street in Hackensack around 6 a.m.
Hackensack Police Director Michael Mordaga confirmed the ISIS reference and that his officers stopped and released a suspect.
Security at area houses of worship and other facilities already was heightened for the Jewish High Holy Days.
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