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'False Public Alarm': Bergen Homeless Shelter Bomb Scare Leads To Summons

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 homeless shelter.

The Bergen County homeless shelter.

Photo Credit: National Association of Counties

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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