A threat was called into a temple in Needham, Massachusetts, on Sunday, prompting police to launch an investigation.
Needham police say, out of an abundance of caution, the town's fire department and the Massachusetts State Police bomb squad responded to Temple Beth Shalom after they received a call reporting a threat.
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State police said they conducted a systematic search of the temple with two bomb technicians/K9 teams, as well as with Needham police and state patrols.
No items of concern were located, police said, and the building has been cleared.
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At this time, police believe the phone call was a hoax, otherwise known as a swatting call.
Police said they will continue to investigate Sunday's phone call and there will be increased checks of all of the town's places of worship "for the foreseeable future."
Elsewhere in Massachusetts on Sunday, a threat was made to a temple in Hingham, as well as a synagogue in North Hampton, prompting investigations in those towns.
The Sharon Police Department said they will be continuing increased patrols in light of the several hoax bomb threats to Jewish religious institutions in Needham, Hingham and Northampton, in addition to the shooting outside of the Islamic Center of Rhode Island in Providence.
Investigations into all of these incidents remain ongoing.
