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Update: Suspect In Custody In Bergen Homeless Shelter Bomb Scare

UPDATE: A man who authorities said frequents the Bergen County homeless shelter was charged with causing a false public alarm after reportedly saying he had a bomb stashed there.

The Bergen County Sheriff's Bomb Squad and K-9 Unit responded to the homeless shelter on River Street in Hackensack.

The Bergen County Sheriff's Bomb Squad and K-9 Unit responded to the homeless shelter on River Street in Hackensack.

Photo Credit: COURTESY: Pascack Valley JPA

John Showers, 57, was at a local social services program in Bergenfield on Wednesday when he claimed he had a bomb in his locker at the shelter in Hackensack, said Derek Sands, Bergen County Sheriff Anthony Cureton's chief of staff.

Showers, whose most recent fixed address was in Elmwood Park, was issued a summons and released pending a court date.

He apparently was disgruntled when he made mention of the purported bomb and that he was "prepared to use it," a law enforcement source said.

The Bergen County Human Services Center, as it's known, was evacuated and River Street and the surrounding area was temporarily blocked off on Wednesday.

A technician from the sheriff's Bomb Squad inspected the locker and "nothing was found," Sands said.

The squad searched the rest of the facility out of an abundance of caution before giving the all-clear, he said.

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ORIGINAL STORY: A suspect was being questioned Wednesday and the Bergen County homeless shelter was evacuated after the man said he had a bomb stashed there, authorities confirmed.

The suspect "was at a [social services] program in Bergenfield and made a comment that he had a pipe bomb in a locker," one said.

The shelter was evacuated and River Street and the surrounding area was temporarily blocked off, said Derek Sands, Bergen County Sheriff Anthony Cureton's chief of staff.

Nothing was found in the locker, Sands said.

However, the sheriff's Bomb Squad continued to search the facility out of an abundance of caution before giving the all-clear shortly before 4:30 p.m., he said.

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