HOWELL, NJ — A conversation with a person at the Xscape Theatre Friday night led the evacuation of the theater after a Howell Township police officer discovered a grenade in a vehicle parked at the theater, police said late Friday night.

Howell police said movie patrons were evacuated from the 14-screen theater at 5361 Route 9, after the grenade was found in the vehicle. However, they were not allowed to remove their vehicles until the New Jersey State Police explosives unit cleared the area, police said.

The grenade turned out to be inert, but two handguns, one of them loaded, were found in the vehicle that belonged to the person who spoke with the officer; that person was arrested, police said.

There was no estimate on how many patrons were at the movie theater at the time. One of them was an off-duty Howell police officer, and he made the evacuation announcement and provided guidance to the other patrons, police said.

The 14-screen theater was showing the Stephen King movie "It," which opened Friday across the country, along with "Annabelle," the movie about a possessed doll, and "Home Again," a comedy starring Reese Witherspoon that also opened Friday, along with several others.



In an update about 11:15 p.m., police said the State Police explosives unit had cleared the vehicle and found the grenade was inert. The theater remained closed for the evening but was expected to open normally on Saturday.

The investigation was continuing, police said.

"Howell Police thank all the patrons for their cooperation," police said.

Editor's note: An earlier version of this report incorrectly referred to the person arrested as a patron. This article has been updated to reflect it was not a patron.

Photos via Howell Township Police Department

