A few hours after the shelter-in-place was lifted following a gunshot near Radcliffe Quad at Harvard, police shared details about a person of interest.
The Cambridge police released photos of this individual and urged anyone who might recognize him or know anything about what happened to call detectives at 617-349-3121.
It was a stressful situation until authorities gave the all-clear.
“Cambridge Police has communicated that there is no ongoing public safety risk at this time,” a Harvard emergency alert around 11:50 a. m. said. “The shelter in place is lifted. Please continue to be vigilant and report any suspicious activity.”
The Cambridge Police Department got several 911 calls just before 11 a. m. reporting gunshots on Sherman Street close to where it meets Stearns Street, near Danehy Park. Harvard was concerned because that’s also close to the campus’s Radcliffe Quad.
When officers arrived, they found ballistic evidence and took statements from witnesses confirming a shooting took place, according to CPD. Witnesses said two or three people had some kind of fight on the street.
The first messages from Harvard’s emergency system mentioned that someone riding a bike fired the shots and then rode off toward Garden Street, but CPD didn’t confirm that detail in their statement.
The earliest alert from Harvard told students to “please avoid the area and shelter in place.”
“CPD and (the Harvard University Police Department) continue to search for the suspect on the bicycle. Avoid the Quad area and continue to shelter in place,” that notice added. “If you are inside a building, stay there.”
The shooting call Cambridge PD responded to was on Sherman Street, which Harvard says is near Radcliffe Quad. The department reported an unknown man on a bike shot at someone else on Sherman Street then sped off toward Garden Street.
Sgt. Robert Reardon from CPD told the Herald around 11:50 p. m., “there were no known victims or ongoing public safety risk.”
“Out of an abundance of caution, Harvard University issued a shelter-in-place and notifications were made to nearby schools and places of interest,” Reardon wrote around 3:15 p. m. “Available evidence suggests this was an isolated incident involving those directly involved; there is no ongoing public safety risk for the wider community. Sherman St. along with some nearby roads were closed while CPD Detectives worked at the scene. All roads have since reopened.”
