MIT students evacuated in the middle of the night following reported bomb threat

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — An bomb threat prompted the evacuation of a dorm on the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology early Wednesday morning.

Emergency crews responding to a report of a threat at Simmons Hall ordered everyone out of the building, according to school officials.

A student told Boston 25 News that fire alarms went off some time around 2:30 a.m. Wednesday morning. Students evacuated and went to different dorms. One student said he noticed a lot of police officers, instead of fire trucks responding.

The school sent emails to students, the first one at 2:52 a.m., that stated: “Simmons hall has been evacuated following a bomb threat. Emergency responders are on scene and the building is currently being searched. Please stay away from the area.”

Nearly two hours later, the students received the all-clear with another email coming in from the school at 4:28 a.m. that stated: “After a thorough search, police have determined there is no threat to Simmons Hall and the building has been reopened.”

Students were asked to stay away from the area while crews swept the premises.

“It was surprising, I mean we thought it was like a cooking accident or something like that,” said Lana Van Note, a student at MIT who was evacuated. “We had had bomb threats in the past, so it was something that we’ve seen before, but definitely something you don’t want to see, especially in the place that you live.”

Matthew Leonard, a senior at MIT, added, “I heard someone saying the police had been speaking to them because they had received a bomb threat to their room specifically. Obviously, it’s a very serious thing, it’s a crime and I don’t know how to say it exactly, it’s not really funny whatever this person is trying to accomplish. It’s not proportionate to what they were doing.”

This comes just days after a hoax call was made to Harvard University in the middle of the night. And last week, more than two dozen schools in Massachusetts received swatting calls. So far, no word on any arrests in these cases.

This threat comes after a hoax call was made to Harvard University on Monday and more than two dozen swatting calls to schools in Massachusetts last week.

So far, no word on any arrests in these cases.

An investigation into Wednesday’s threat remains ongoing.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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