A person with an airsoft rifle in Boston's Fenway and Kenmore Square areas prompted a shelter-in-place order at Boston University Tuesday afternoon, police confirmed.
Boston police said they received a report from a resident about a person who may have a gun in the area of 829 Beacon St. just after 1 p.m. Tuesday and that officers are on the scene.
Boston University officials said in the alerts that police are investigating a report of a person who may have had a gun near Landmark Center on Park Drive in the Fenway area, and that the issued the shelter-in-place after receiving a report that the person was running in the MBTA tunnels through Kenmore Square.
For a time, authorities believed the person could have ran into the Barnes and Noble bookstore in Kenmore Square, and employees were rushed out as police investigated.
Boston police later said the person who was reported with a firearm actually had an airsoft rifle. The unnamed person is not in custody and the investigation continues, according to police.
This is the second scare in recent weeks at a Boston-area university. Simmons University was placed in lock down earlier this month after someone reported hearing gunshots. The noise turned out to be the sound of popping balloons.
