FORT LEE--Homicidal threats from a man who said he was armed with an automatic rifle and had a bomb strapped to his body caused panic at a Fort Lee Pizza Hut on Sunday night and led authorities to a fruitless four-hour search.

Police didn't find the man or any explosives after scouring the Bergen Boulevard restaurant for four and a half hours, Chief Keith Bendul said in a release. The threat caused some patrons or unknown persons to flee "frantically in different directions" and run to different rooms in the restaurant, he said. Authorities evacuated the Pizza Hut and treated it as if it were a credible bomb threat, with a possible barricaded subject, he said.

The call joins a series of recent swatting incidents in the area, where anonymous callers reported bogus emergencies to elicit massive police response. A SWAT team in Passaic County descended on a Clifton video game store in March after receiving a fake report of a hostage situation. In April, police swarmed Hollywood Cleaners in Bergenfield after receiving a prank call from a man who said he had strapped bombs to two hostages inside.

Other areas of the state have also recently fallen prey to swatting. Princeton and Mommouth County have seen a slew of such incidents. Last month, police shut down much of southern Hoboken after receiving what is now believed to have been a fake bomb threat.

Bendul said the borough's detective bureau is looking at Sunday's call alongside the swatting events in Bergen and Passaic counties in a joint investigation.

In Sunday's incident both police and restaurant management received reports of a bomb threat, Bendul said. The borough communications center received a call at 6:53 p.m. reporting that a suicidal man was inside the Pizza Hut. The man purportedly had an automatic rifle and a bomb strapped to his body and threatened to kill all of the restaurant's patrons, Bendul said. Soon after the initial call, dispatchers received a second from a different individual, who urged police to respond to the Pizza Hut because he'd seen several suspicious individuals in the restaurant.

Police evacuated the restaurant and shut down the area, Bendul said. Route 1, as well as an area surrounding the building, were closed off to vehicles and pedestrians. Police set up an emergency command post at a business on Route 1 South.

Several agencies responded, including Fort Lee police, New Jersey State Police, the Bergen County Sheriff's Office, Port Authority Police of New York and New Jersey and police from Palisades Park, Edgewater and Leonia.

Emergency personnel "methodically searched all areas of the building interior as well as exterior grounds for any persons, suspicious packages, explosive devices or weapons," Bendul said, but nothing was found.

Kathryn Brenzel may be reached at kbrenzel@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @katiebrenzel. Find NJ.com on Facebook