Easter Bomb Threat Disrupts Shelter Island Ferry

A bomb threat disrupted ferry service between Shelter Island and North Haven on Easter Sunday night, but when police searched the area investigators found no explosive devices, Shelter Island Town Police said.

Shelter Island police officers responded to a report of the threat at the South Ferry terminals and secured the area with the assistance of Southampton Town police at 10:39 p.m., authorities said. A bomb-sniffing dog with the New York State Police canine unit also searched the area, police said. When no explosives were found, service was restored about two hours later.

“It was a hoax,” said Cliff Clark, who owns the ferry company. “It was some guy who thought he would be clever and disrupt.”

Clark credited the police with a great response and Captain Matt Rohde, a former U.S. Army tank commander who served in Iraq, for keeping the ferry in the channel while investigators searched for explosives.

“There’s nobody I’d rather have in a situation like that,” Clark said. “That military training, it’s priceless.”

Police are continuing the investigation.