Search On For Suspect Who Made Threats Over NYPD Radio Frequency
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The search continued Monday for a man who police said harassed and threatened the NYPD using police-only radio frequencies.
As CBS2's Janelle Burrell reported, the suspect used threatened to attack an NYPD captain from the Midtown South Precinct.
Officers were standing guard outside the precinct stationhouse late Monday, while investigators worked to identify the hacker, who was able infiltrate the radio frequencies.
The messages were transmitted Saturday evening.
Police said the violent threats are not credible, but they are being taken seriously. Officers could be seen standing guard outside the precinct stationhouse on Monday.
The transmissions were captured on Broadcastify.com.
"South Duty captain to central. Remember you put me in jail? I'm out now and I am going to put a bullet in your head," the suspect says in one transmission.
"Remember captain, I'm coming for you," he says in another. "Come find me. I'm right here in the Walgreens in Times Square."
That's when an officer responds: "Hey, grow up. Some people are trying to do their job on this division."
People in the area found the incident disturbing.
"Security is a huge threat right now for the United States and also for Manhattan so knowing someone could jump on the airwaves, that's pretty terrifying," Upper East Side resident Jodi Tovay said.
"It's very disturbing. I know this precinct, they're pretty tight with security, they take it very seriously here. I'm surprised that would happen," Patchogue resident Ron Hargrove said.
Police issued a bulletin over the radio system to officers Saturday, urging them to use caution when responding to incidents.
"Please be advised there may be a stolen radio making unauthorized transmissions. Please use caution when responding to incidents," the warning said.
Meanwhile, how the man was able to break into the radio system was still unclear late Monday.
"Clearly, that person had some familiarity with police lingo and codes," said NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce. "So we're trying to find out exactly what happened. We don't believe he has a department radio."
Authorities said there have been no new threats since the original transmissions on Saturday.
The motive for the taunts remains unclear.
Investigators say this isn't the first time that someone has been able to gain access to police frequencies, but they say those incidents did not involve the suspect making threats.
