Police responding to bomb threat at NJ hospital find cache of weapons

SECAUCUS, N.J. — Police in New Jersey arrested a hospital employee after finding dozens of guns and high-capacity ammunition in a closet while investigating a bomb threat. The bomb threat was determined to be a hoax.

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In a news release, the Secaucus Police Department said its officers went to Hudson Regional Hospital on Aug. 7 after receiving a phone call saying that a bomb was in the hospital. When officers with bomb detection dogs swept the hospital, a dog alerted officers to an unlocked closet in an office.

Inside the office, officers found 11 handguns of varying calibers, 27 rifles and shotguns, a KRISS Vector .45 caliber semi-automatic rifle with a high-capacity magazine, and a 14-round high-capacity handgun magazine.

“The unsecured storage of a large cache of weaponry, especially in this location, certainly creates a risk to public safety,” Secaucus Police Chief Dennis Miller said in a statement. “I commend the efforts and professionalism of all the police personnel involved in this investigation and am thankful this situation was resolved without anyone being harmed.”

The hospital’s marketing director, Reuven Alonalayoff, was arrested on weapons charges. Alonalayoff was arrested at Newark Liberty International Airport, where he had just arrived from an extended medical trip in Israel, WABC reported.

Hudson Regional Hospital officials told nj.com that Alonalayoff was a consultant and not a full-time employee. The officials also said the guns were inside a locked office on an administrative floor of the hospital.

In a statement to WABC, the hospital said: “The presence of weapons in a hospital is inexcusable beyond comprehension and contradicts our mission of care.”

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