TOMS RIVER – A Canadian teenager has been identified as the suspect in two swatting incidents at a Jersey Shore middle school.
According to police, on Monday, November 21, 2022, police were dispatched to Intermediate East in response to a potential swatting incident. The area was thoroughly checked and cleared prior to students entering the building, and the threat was deemed unfounded.
Police traced the calls back to Alberta, Canada.
Julian Messina, a spokeswoman for the Toms River Police Department said a 14-year-old male from Edmonton, Canada, was identified by Detective Graham Borg and Corporal Jesse Robertazzi of our Cyber Crimes Unit within 45 minutes of their investigation. Detectives, working with Officer Fallano, were able to connect the suspect to another swatting call received by TRPD dispatchers the previous morning at a residence.
“Our law enforcement partners in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada arrested and charged the 9th grader in Canada for the two swatting incidents in Toms River,” Messina said.
Messina described swatting as when someone makes a prank call to emergency services in an attempt to bring about the dispatch of a large number of armed police officers to a particular address.