Beachwood Teen, 14, Charged With Creating False Alarm

BERKELEY TOWNSHIP, NJ - Police have charged a 14-year-old teen from Beachwood with making a false alarm by calling a Bayville funeral home on Thursday and saying a shooting was going to happen at an unspecified school, Police Chief Karin T. DiMichele said.

"At no time did the the juvenile indicate a specific school," the chief said. "The juvenile was not lodged in detention and was released to the parents. The threat was determined to be non-credible prior to school starting for the day."

Berkeley detectives were able to locate the owner of the phone number, and were able to prevent any potential immediate threat, DiMichele said.

The identity and the sex of the teenager have not been released.

Police officers that are normally assigned to all Berkeley schools on a daily basis, were notified of the incident prior before they began their shifts, the chief said.

News of the threat sent area parents reeling in Central Regional, Berkeley Township, Toms River and even Manchester Township schools. Despite the assurances of police and the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office that the threat was bogus, rumors began to fly and some parents even took their children out of school on Friday.

Police understand why parents are on heightened alert in light of school shootings around the country, the chief said.

"Many of us also have children in the Berkeley and Central school systems and are just as concerned when this kind of information is received," DiMichele said. "With that said, we would like to emphasis that our officers and detectives treat even the most vague of threats as top priority and exercise a zero tolerance policy for such incidents."

When something like this happens, police make periodic releases when they have correct and accurate information so everyone has the facts as fast as possible, the chief said.

"We ask that we don’t let fear or rumors become fact," DiMichele said. "Many times, such as today, various versions of “what happened” are all over the internet creating a difficult situation for investigators and school administrators. Fiction becomes fact very quickly and this could undermine any ongoing investigation."

Anyone with information about the incident please contact Detective Michael Riccardelli at 732-341-1132 x 2136. To report a tip or to provide information you can also utilize the TIP Line at 732-341-1132 x611. Information can be anonymous. If you need an immediate response, please dial 911.

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