Explosion rocks Harvard Medical School building, police label it as 'intentional'

An explosion erupted in a building of Harvard Medical School in Boston on Saturday morning, which the school’s police department is now describing as an ‘intentional act’. Two people were seen fleeing from the building after the explosion when a police officer from the Harvard University Police Department arrived at the scene.

The explosion and motive are currently being investigated by local and federal authorities. The school police maintained that no injuries were reported. The university went on to release still images from video surveillance footage that show two individuals at the explosion site.

One wore khaki pants, grey Crocs, and a brown hooded sweatshirt that appeared to say “NYC”; the other wore dark plaid pyjama pants and a dark hooded sweatshirt. Both individuals had light-coloured ski masks. According to The New York Times, the incident took place at 2:48 am (local time) in the Goldenson building of the medical school.

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Officers from the Harvard police department were dispatched after a fire alarm was activated at the building. An officer who arrived at the scene saw the individuals running from the building, Steven G. Catalano, a spokesman for the university police, said in a statement.

Authorities are terming it ‘intentional’

Soon after the reports of the blast started circulating online, the arson unit of the Boston Fire Department determined that the explosion was “intentional". The Boston Police Department swept the building but did not find additional devices.

Catalano did not reveal the extent of the damage that occurred in the building, which was built back in 1906. The site of the explosion appears to hold portions of the Neurology Department, according to the school’s website.

An email obtained by The New York Times, sent to the neurobiology department by a school administrator, asked faculty and students to avoid coming to campus unless necessary, while also specifying that only part of the building was closed. “While we aren’t able to share more details at this time, I want you to know that the building has been cleared and remains open, except for the fourth floor where the incident took place,” the letter read.

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Meanwhile, the FBI was assisting at the scene of the crime, and Kristen M. Setera, a spokeswoman for the Boston Field Office, said that the investigation was “very active".

The incident occurred at a time when Harvard was facing scrutiny from the US President Donald Trump’s administration, with the government cutting funds after the university did not agree to adopt more conservative gender values, grant access to admissions data, or make changes to the school’s code of conduct.