Police are now searching for the suspects responsible for an explosion inside a laboratory at Harvard Medical School on Longwood Avenue.
The incident, which occurred early Saturday, is believed to be intentional. Harvard Medical School students were shocked after receiving emails notifying them about an explosion inside one of the school's campus buildings.
Harvard Medical School Suffers Laboratory Explosion
The explosion happened at around 3:00 a.m. at the Goldenson Building, which was still being renovated. Shortly after the incident, a Harvard police officer who was responding to a fire alarm said he saw two people running from the building. While he tried to chase and stop them, they eventually got away.
When the police officer went inside the building, he found signs of a blast on the fourth floor, which led investigators to believe that the explosion was intentional. Fortunately, the incident did not result in any injuries, and authorities did not find any other devices in the area, according to NBC Boston.
Harvard officials issued an update to the school community on Sunday, where they reiterated that no one was hurt in the incident. The statement added that a small section of the fourth-floor hallway, where the explosion took place, had already been cleared and is fully operational.
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Authorities added that the explosion did not result in any structural damage to the building, noting that all labs and equipment remain intact. Additionally, cleaning crews were on site to assist in making sure that everything is ready for the start of the work week.
The Harvard University Police Department said that campus buildings are locked after hours and are only accessible to authorized individuals. This raises the question of how the two suspects were able to gain access to the building or if they forcibly broke in, News Nation Now reported.
Searching for the Suspects Responsible
The explosion comes as there was a separate incident in Massachusetts last month, where the principal of Wayland High School said that a racist incident occurred in the boys' locker room that they were investigating.
Principal Allyson Mizoguchi told the school community that a yellow plastic "children at play" street safety figure wearing the football jersey of a Black student was found hanging from a ceiling pipe in the locker room with a belt around its neck.
The incident was originally reported by a student, and Mizoguchi said that students who are responsible have already been identified. She said that accountability for the people involved and support for the individuals who were affected are their priorities as of the moment, as per CBS News.
