Shooting Near MIT is One of Two Near-Campus Shootings Over the Weekend
A shooting near the MIT campus caused a violent end to the Cambridge Carnival on Sunday. A Roxbury woman was taken to the hospital after being shot in the leg. The victim, 25, was shot a few blocks away from the parade route, near the MIT campus. According to CBS News, it’s currently unclear if the victim is a student at MIT.
Jeremy Warnick, a Cambridge police spokesman said, “At this point it is too early to determine if she was a target. This is an ongoing and active investigation.”
Although the shooting was off campus, MIT initially called for an active shooter alert, causing students to take cover and barricade their doors. The alert was also shared by the MIT police on Twitter.
MITAlert: Active Shooter reported on campus. Police responding. Evacuate if able or seek shelter. Lock and barricade doors. More to follow.
— MIT Police (@MITPolice) September 13, 2015
The alert was recalled shortly thereafter, as the shooter was not on the MIT campus.
“Students are free to move about. This was not on campus,” advised a dispatcher from the MIT police department.
According to the Boston Globe, between the shooting near MIT and a separate fight incident, five people were left injured at the carnival. Around 5:20 p.m., a fight broke out near a DJ booth on the Carnival parade route. The fight left four people treated with minor injuries.
At this time, Cambridge police do not believe that the shooting near MIT and the fight on the parade route are related.
Sadly, the near-campus shooting in the vicinity of MIT is not the only shooting involving a U.S. university this weekend. In Salt Lake City, Utah two football players for the University of Utah were shot in the torso on Sunday.
According to the Salt Lake City Police Department, it’s believed that the shooting involving the football players broke out after an unwanted guest came to a house party near the University of Utah campus. The shooting may be gang related.
As of Sunday evening, both the shooter from the incident near MIT and the shooter near the University of Utah remain at large. Anyone with information about either near-campus shooting is urged to contact local authorities in each city. Thoughts and well-wishes go out to those injured in the weekend’s shootings.
[Photo via Shutterstock]
