Cambridge

All Clear Given After MIT Dorm Evacuated Over Bomb Threat

Students had to leave the dorm building for about two hours while police investigated

NBC Universal, Inc.

Hundreds of students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology were woken up early Wednesday morning to the sound of alarms in Simmons Hall, after a bomb threat was reported by the university.

Just after 2:30 a.m., an alert from MIT Emergency Management said that Simmons Hall was being evacuated following a bomb threat. Emergency responders were on scene and the building was searched.

Following a thorough search of the building, authorities at MIT said that no threat was found, and the building was reopened.

A university spokesperson issued a statement about the situation to NBC10 Boston, saying that MIT police got a call from someone claiming to be a student, indicating that they had placed bombs in the residence hall.

"Early in the incident, it was determined the threat was likely not credible as information provided proved untrue," Director of Media Relations Kimberly Allen wrote in a statement. "First responders still took the time needed to search and clear the building, responding per protocol and out of an abundance of caution."

Cambridge police confirmed that it also responded to help, saying that a thorough search didn't turn up anything suspicious.

According to MIT's website, Simmons Hall is an undergraduate dorm building that houses 340 undergraduates, 10 graduate students, two MIT professors and their families and five resident scholars.

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