A Virginia man has been arrested, accused of phoning in several false threats to police in Brick, New Jersey, including claims of shootings, injured officers and threats to kill residents, authorities say.
The first call came on Aug. 25, when an anonymous caller with a blocked number called Brick police to say there was a man with a gun at a home on Solar Drive in the Midstreams section, police said.
Police investigated the call and determined it was unfounded. Over the next week, police got other similar calls to the same address, including for shootings, officers down and threats to kill residents and responding officers.
Detectives identified the caller as 33-year-old Bruce A. Ritter, who was tracked to a homeless shelter in Roanoke, Virginia. He was located and taken into custody with the help of Roanoke police on Aug. 29, and charged with three counts of stalking, two counts of false public alarms and two counts of violating a restraining order, Brick police said.
He's being held in Roanoke City Jail and is expected to be extradited to New Jersey. Attorney information wasn't immediately available.
