BOSTON, Massachusetts (5th UPDATE) – Two hours after the shooting of an MIT police officer, additional reports have come in, stating that the suspect is still at large, with new instances of gunshots and possible explosions are occurring in the Watertown district.
Gunfire and explosions erupted in streets close to the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Friday after a police officer was shot dead there, witnesses said. (Police later said the incident is linked to the hunt for suspects in the April 15 Boston bombing)
Local media said one person may have been shot in the incidents as heavily armed police launched a major manhunt following the killing on the MIT campus near the US city of Boston.
The explosions and gunfire were heard in the Watertown district north of the university. “There were blasts, it could have been grenades,” local resident Adam Brown told AFP.
The NBC-WJAR channel later showed film of a man lying on the ground in a street in the town and surrounded by police.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) emergency webpage earlier reported at 10:48 pm. Massachussets time (10:48 am. Philippine time) that “gunshots were reported near Building 32 (Stata) which is currently surrounded by responding agencies.”
The Tech, MIT’s student newspaper, reports that an MIT police officer was shot, and was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). Boston.com later reported the police officer died in the hospital due to multiple gunshot wounds.
Update on #MIT shooting: the officer was an MIT police officer and was taken to MGH. #CambMA
— The Tech (@thetech) April 19, 2013
“Please stay clay of area until further notice. Unknown if injuries have occurred,” the emergency alert notice said.
MIT is located near Boston, where two bombs at the city’s marathon killed 3 people and injured 180 on Monday, April 15.
#MIT ALERT: Shots fired near 32 Vassar St (Stata Center), police officer down. Please stay inside.
— The Tech (@thetech) April 19, 2013
The Tech has also released a photo of the area.
Photo from the #MIT shooting #CambMA (warning: potentially graphic) twitter.com/thetech/status…
— The Tech (@thetech) April 19, 2013
– with reports from Agence France-Presse/Rappler.com
There are no comments yet. Add your comment to start the conversation.