Local Pitcher Eyes Second Chance in The Show

Hackettstown's Cole Kimball, recovering from shoulder surgery, pitching well for Washington Nationals this spring.

Area Schools Take Advantage of Online Classes

Hackettstown High School hosts consortium of teachers, students from the area about benefits of online learning.

Teens Brighten Holidays by Restoring the Shore

Hackettstown High School seniors collecting donations with hopes of filling 18-wheeler to bring to Central Regional High School in Bayville.

School Lockdown Lifted When Bear Leaves Town

Bruin first spotted in the area of Hackettstown High School Tuesday morning, police said.

Hackettstown High School, Hatchery Hill School and Hackettstown Middle School have lifted their modified lockdown Tuesday after a bear in the area fled from authorities, Hackettstown Police Sgt. Darren Tynan said. At 7:40 a.m. Tuesday police responded to a report of a bear in the back yard of someone's home, Tynan said. The bear was not acting in an aggressive manner, Tynan said. Authorities then followed the bruin into the quarry, and subsequently onto the State Fish Hatchery property, Tynan said.  A short while later, the bear was spotted on Arthur Terrace, Shelley Drive, and on the Minebrook Golf Course on Schooley's Mountain Road, Tynan said. The school lockdown was lifted at approximately 11 a.m., and no one was injured as a result of…

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Prosecutor: Still No Suspect in 'Gunman' Incident

Authorities still conducting investigation into Hackettstown lockdown in March.

Warren County Prosecutor Richard Burke said Wednesday there is still no suspect in the Hackettstown High School lockdown incident that occurred on Monday, March 26. The prosecutor would only relay the message through his secretary over the phone, and the investigation is continuing, the office said. An alleged gunman called the county dispatch center three times that morning, telling a dispatcher he had an AK-47 and was hiding in the woods near the school. From that point forward, an exhaustive search was conducted by local and state law enforcement agencies throughout the town for nearly four hours. A press conference conducted later in the day by then-prosecutor Scott Ferguson revealed no person or evidence of any kind was found. …

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'Gunman' Had 90-Minute Call With 911

Dispatcher kept man on phone, engaged in conversation while police searched Hackettstown.

A telecommunicator from the Warren County dispatch center kept a caller on the phone for some 90 minutes Monday, continuing a dialogue with a man who said he was hiding in the woods near Hackettstown High School with a weapon, according to dispatch center manager Frank Wheatley. The man, who said he was of Swedish descent, made three consecutive phone calls to the center, Wheatley said. The first to say he was hiding and had a weapon–an AK-47, Wheatley said–then a second, and eventually a third, where telecommunicator Rymon opened a conversation with the caller, Wheatley said. The threat forced all of Hackettstown’s schools, and most of the town itself, into a lockdown while law enforcement officials from the area and state searched for …

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Video: Lockdown Unleashes Fear

When reports of a gunman locked down Hackettstown on March 26, the process ratcheting down movement ramped up the anxiety as rumor spread as fast as text messages.

What began as an average march Monday took a turn for the surreal at just after 10 a.m. when word of an armed gunman in the woods near Hackettstown High school triggered a lockdown. Parents were not informed of the possible threat by the school, but rather from phone calls and text messages from their children. As the late morning turned into afternoon, more and more parents assembled outside the barricades, mingling with a growing number of police and media. Each text or phone call caused a flurry of activity as students complained of hunger, the lack of a bathroom break and of underlying fear. But despite all the reports led to an unfounded claim. After an exhaustive search that included a helicopter and a canine unit no suspect or …

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