LCMR Locked Down After Hoax Threat

ERMA – Lower Cape May Regional (LCMR) High School entered lockdown just before 1 p.m. Oct. 14.
Police swarmed the building as reports suggested that it was part of a hoax statewide. Other schools across New Jersey went into lockdown around the same time, according to ABC4 in New York City.
As parents showed up, police sent them to Tabernacle United Methodist Church, saying that an update would follow at the church.
Lower Township Police Department said they’re continuing to investigate the suspected hoax. As of Oct 16, they had not provided any further public updates on the source.
As of 1:30 p.m. Oct. 14, parents at the school received a call saying that students would finish the day slightly early, but without further event; the call said the threat was a hoax.
Lower Township police closed Route 9 to facilitate a safer operation in the area surrounding the school.
The Wildwood Police Department put out a release notifying the public of the hoaxes.
“We are currently monitoring multiple active shooter threats at multiple schools statewide. The callers are advising of an active shooter within the school creating a law enforcement response and the schools being put on lockdown,” the department said. 
“I hope to God whoever did it gets caught,” said James McGonigal, a recent graduate of LCMR. McGonigal’s younger sister is a student at LCMR.
“Updates to follow,” the Wildwood Police Department added.
As parents showed up to pick up their kids in the afternoon Oct. 14, emotions ran high.
One parent, who asked not to be named, said he and his wife were just trying to pick up their daughter, who is a freshman. She normally takes the bus but had said she wanted to ride home with them.
The parent claimed he saw staff and teachers leaving the building before students were let out; he says he got into an argument with an administrator over why his kid wasn’t allowed to leave.
He acknowledged that he only had a single vantage point and that he didn’t know what was happening on the other side of the building, near the main entrance.
A planned homecoming bonfire was canceled Oct. 14, but the homecoming dance itself went off without a hitch Oct. 15.
These hoaxes have been part of a broader national trend over the past month, NPR reports. It’s unclear what the source might be; the FBI says they have no leads as of Oct. 7.
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