Police investigate hoax hostage call from South Shore jewelry store

Cohasset police are investigating an “elaborate hoax” call from a jewelry store on Sunday, the department said.

Around 6:30 p.m., the South Shore Regional Emergency Communications Center (SSRECC) received a call from someone who said he was barricaded inside a closed jewelry store on Route 3A and was holding two hostages at gunpoint. He said he was armed with a pistol and a rifle and demanded money in exchange for the hostages, according to Cohasset police.

SSRECC initiated a Tac-Alert, a regional emergency response that dispatches Cohasset officers and summons on-duty officers from Hingham, Norwell, Scituate, and Hull, police said.

Police established a perimeter around the business and closed Route 3A in both directions between the Scituate town line and Beechwood Street, the Cohasset department said.

Throughout the police response, SSRECC continued speaking with the caller, who said he could see officers arriving and accurately described their location and movements, police said. The caller also mentioned specific details about the inside of the store, including areas that are just for employees and not visible to the public.

Those details initially made the caller’s claims seem credible, requiring officers to treat the incidents as a “legitimate and potentially life-threatening hostage situation,” Cohasset police said.

Cohasset police confirmed that the business owner and her family were safe. The owner contacted her employees and confirmed their safety as well, police said.

When officers entered the building and conducted a tactical sweep, they found no occupants or evidence of a hostage situation, the department said. Therefore, the incident was ruled to be a hoax, as no hostages were taken and no injuries were reported.

Cohasset police discovered that the caller had unauthorized access to the business’s surveillance cameras, which allowed him to observe the police response in real time and provide accurate and specific details.

“Our dispatchers did an outstanding job managing what, at the time, appeared to be an extremely dangerous and rapidly developing hostage situation,” said Cohasset Police Chief William Quigley. “They kept the caller on the phone for an extended period, remained calm and professional, and gathered a tremendous amount of information that will be valuable to our detectives as they work to identify the person responsible” and pursue criminal charges.

Quigley reminded the public that pranks and swatting incidents “put police officers and members of the public at risk, disrupt businesses, divert emergency resources, and create unnecessary danger.”

The investigation into the incident, including the unauthorized use of the surveillance system and the identity of the caller, is ongoing, police said.