BRIDGEWATER, Mass. (WHDH) — Police in Bridgewater are searching for a suspect accused of calling in a fake hostage situation early Tuesday morning.
Beginning at about 4 a.m., a dispatcher at the Bridgewater Police Department received a call on the business line from a man who said he had between 10 and 15 hostages inside a home on Aldrich Road and that he was going to start killing them if he wasn’t given cash, according to Bridgewater Police Chief Christopher Delmonte.
After the initial call, Delmonte said the man called the department’s business line numerous times and made various threats.
When officers arrived at the house and found nothing out of the ordinary, Delmonte said they spoke with a juvenile resident, who said she had just been chatting with three friends on the live video group chat app Houseparty when a man they didn’t know gained access and started threatening them.
In a statement, Delmonte encouraged parents to have discussions with their children about social media use and the Houseparty app.
The incident remains under investigation.
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