Barnegat Police determine “hit list” of student names doesn’t exist
Barnegat Police say there is no credible threat to students or any schools in the Barnegat School District after they investigated a possible "hit list" of student names in a book over the weekend.Police say they spoke to those who claimed they spotted the names in a notebook and found nothing that indicated a threat or plan to engage in violence.
They also didn't find any book with names in it.
In a statement on Facebook Barnegat Police Chief Keith German said:
"In the spirit of our continued efforts and commitment as an agency to keep information channels open, we unfortunately have to address yet another unfounded rumor that has metastasized on social media platforms.
The school district brought to our attention this weekend that there were yet again fresh claims of a student finding a book with a "hit list" of student names in it.
It is my belief, as it was last week after the previous round of investigations, that there is no credible threat to the students or schools of the Barnegat Township School District.
Frankly, what is most concerning to me is that this latest rumor/concern was not reported to the police, but was instead posted to social media.
Facebook doesn't have a police department.
We can't monitor every post on every Barnegat-centric social media page. If this had been a credible threat, it might have very well gone unknown to us if the school district hadn't been alerted to it and immediately forwarded the concern to us.
Please report all concerns about threats or school safety directly to the school district and/or police department (both of whom will immediately bring the other into the loop). We can't address things of which we aren't aware.
Finally, as is always the case, if you have a specific question or concern feel free to contact me directly."
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