9°
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 Board of Education and police headquarters, the captain said.
A judge released Vitone pending further court action following a first appearance in Central Judicial Processing Court in Hackensack. He's charged with one count each of falsely creating a public alarm and filing false reports, Antista said.
Whether Vitone may or may not be responsible for the other incidents hadn't been determined.
The “swatting” frequently disrupted classes at the high school, forcing lockdowns and shelters in place from March through June.
A call in May brought a SWAT team and other responders to a nearby Hackensack home while forcing yet another high school lockdown.
The "swatter" used the same bogus local phone number that was connected to a series of threats at the school in March, police said at the time.
The caller claimed to have shot his brother, bringing members of a Bergen County Regional SWAT Team along with city police and firefighters.
Other calls involved threats to shoot up the school.
Students, staff and particularly parents and law enforcers had grown increasingly irritated by the calls.
Daily Voice eventually stopped publishing stories about them in an effort to curb the publicity the caller might have been seeking.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Egg Harbor Township and receive free news updates.
