HOWELL - A report of three armed men aboard a New Jersey Transit bus Thursday morning was determined by Howell police to be a hoax after the bus was emptied and all passengers searched, police said.
Police dispatch received a call that the armed men were on an NJ Transit bus but the caller did not give a specific bus number, Howell police said in a statement posted on Facebook.
Police located the suspected bus traveling southbound on Route 9 and pulled it over on the busy roadway, police said.
Initially, none of the passengers responded to the officers' commands, police said. Freehold Township police and Monmouth sheriff's officers arrived to assist and the officers then realized the engine noise was making it hard for the passengers to hear police.
After several minutes, all of the passengers got off the bus and were patted down by investigators, police said. Officers then entered the bus and found no weapons, according to police.
Police learned that an argument had taken place earlier in the day in Freehold, and a person was not allowed onto the bus, police said.
Soon after the argument, the telephone call was placed to dispatch reporting the armed men on the bus, police said.
"At this time, the report was deemed to be not credible," police said.
The passengers were released from the scene and the investigation was handed over to NJ Transit police.
Alex Napoliello may be reached at anapoliello@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @alexnapoNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
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