Naval Weapons Station Earle Issues Shelter in Place Order After Woman Makes Bomb Threat

A woman has been arrested after threatening to drive a car bomb onto a Naval weapons base in New Jersey on Thursday night, the Navy disclosed. Naval Weapons Station Earle, located in Colts Neck, New Jersey, issued a statement saying a woman was stopped at an entry point at the mainside gate on Route 34, and subsequently told sentries she had a bomb in her car.

Security personnel around the base were immediately alerted, and a lockdown of the base was implemented. The woman's 2019 Gray Nissan Altima remains at the checkpoint, according to the statement. Around 9:30 p.m. on Thursday night, the lockdown had been lifted.

The commanding officer of NWS Earle issued a shelter-in-place order while the base was swept, including the nearby waters, until an all-clear order is issued.

Officials at the base said the woman who issued the car-bomb threat had already been barred from the base for previous attempts to access the weapons station.

"The driver has been barred from the installation for previous attempts to enter the base, and today was being issued a citation for another attempt," NWSE stated.

The naval base's ordnance disposal mobile unit is surveying the situation, according to the statement.

NWSE is responsible for receiving, storing, segregating an issuing ordnance for the U.S.'s Atlantic fleet, which includes the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, conventional demands by the Department of Defense and other homeland services including:

• Explosive Ordnance Disposal (Mobile Unit 12)
• MSNAP
• Naval Operational Support Center (Reserves)
• NAVFAC MidLant (Public Works)
• NAVOSH Storefront
• Navy Criminal Investigative Service
• Navy Munitions Command
• OHMSETT

United States ammunition depots became more segregated from traditional bases and large cities after the outbreak of World War II, in which smaller installations were used for the onload and offload of ammunition for ships and troops.

What was built as Naval Ammunition Depot Earle in 1943 as part of this effort, it was eventually designated as Naval Weapons Station Earle in 1974, and it's now the homeport to Combat Logistics Squadron 2, USNS Supply and USNS Arctic.