Crime & Safety
All Clear Sounded After 'Shelter in Place' At Boston Schools
Simmons College warned students of 'active threat on campus,' but police said it was a false alarm.
BOSTON, MA — Simmons College sent out an all clear shortly after police rushed to the area to investigate unconfirmed reports of gunfire near the college in the Fenway area. But the entire situation appears to be a false alarm.
"There was a call for shots fired at 2:38 p.m., and police on scene investigating found zero shots fired," said Maisha Miraj a police spokesperson.
Police said they found popped balloons nearby and its not without possibility that that might have started the alert, according to early scanner reports. Miraj said she could not confirm that was the reason.
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After the call, students were advised to shelter in place at Simmons and at several other area schools and colleges. An email and text alert from Simmons told students there was an "active threat on campus," advising students to barricade doors and hide and run if was an option.
Some 45 minutes later police let shocked students out of buildings where they were holed up and told them they were able to move around.
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The Riverway was shut down as police investigated, looked for potential witnesses and reviewed area video footage. Just before 3:25 p.m. police said they found evidence that people were popping balloons behind Boston Latin School, according to the scanner.
At least three other colleges, including Emmanuel, the Massachusetts College of Art & Design, and the Harvard School of Public Health also issued a shelter-in-place order. Northeastern tweeted out a warning to stay away from area.
Area hospitals including Dana-Farber also issued alerts.
Police said over the scanner that at least six people called in with a report of a gunshot heard, but there was no victim and no description and could be heard repeating that shots were not confirmed. A number of students reportedly heeded a text telling students to hide or run and barricaded themselves in rooms. Police made their way though campus buildings helping clear the students out.
Police said they were getting inundated with calls from concerned people, according to early dispatch reports.
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