The Ocean County Library Toms River Branch had to be briefly evacuated this afternoon following a 'fake evacuation' announcement.

A fake evacuation announcement at the Toms River branch of the Ocean County Library led to its evacuation on Tuesday, Ocean County Sheriff Mike Mastronardy confirmed to WOBM/Townsquare Media News.

Mastronardy said that people left the building and police were notified.

The building was evacuated for real and a search conducted out of an abundance of caution, Mastronardy said, and it was reopened around 3:00 p.m.

An investigation is ongoing into who made the announcement and how they were able to gain access to the library’s PA system.

Dan Alexander contributed to this report.

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