Harvard University

Police seek person of interest after shots fired at Harvard Square T station

Harvard sent out an alert shortly before 3 p.m. Sunday telling students to shelter in place

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Gunshots were fired inside the MBTA’s Harvard Square Red Line station Sunday, prompting a shelter-in-place order in the area, and police shared a photo of a person of interest they need help tracking down and speaking with. 

The search for a suspect in a shooting at the Harvard Square MBTA station Sunday is continuing after a shelter-in-place order at Harvard was lifted, officials said.

Harvard said in an alert shortly before 3 p.m. that MBTA Transit Police were reporting shots fired at the Harvard Square T station. They said Cambridge, T and Harvard police were all searching Harvard Square for the suspect.

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"Shelter in place," the alert said. "Please enter the nearest building and stay there until all clear is given."

Around 3:20 p.m., Harvard sent out a second alert, saying, "The search has concluded. The shelter in place has lifted."

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Transit Police said in an update that they responded to the Harvard Square Station at 2:12 p.m. for a repot of shots fired. They said their preliminary investigation suggests that a male with a gun on the southbound platform fired approximately 4-5 rounds "at a targeted individual" and then fled the station. They said there are no victims and no evidence to suggest anyone was struck. They did not say if any arrests had been made and said their investigation remains active.

Cambridge police said they also responded, but Transit Police are the primary agency.

MBTA Transit Police said in a social media post on Sunday night that they are seeking a person of interest in connection with Sunday's shooting.

They said anyone who recognizes the person of interest should call them at 617-222-1050.

Marc Bauer, who is visiting from Nebraska because he has a family member running, said he was on the T with his wife, daughter and future son-in-law when they heard the shots.

"We were going from station to station and we stopped and everybody was getting off the subway. We heard like 5 or 6 loud, what sounded like some firearm being discharged downstairs," he said. "We as a group were confused about what was going on, so we rushed back on the subway again and got out of there as quick as we could."

"We just heard the shots, saw a lot of people scrambling, not knowing where to go," Bauer added. "It was down the platform away from us a bit. We didn't want to find ourselves in a bad situation, so we got back on the subway, the doors shut quickly and we felt 6 safe."

"It was loud. Just like 5 or 6 real loud gunshots, it sounded like. Almost like fireworks going off. We didn't know what was going on, but we saw a lot of people scrambling. We knew something was happening that wasn't good."

Police are investigating after multiple shots were fired at the Harvard Square MBTA Station on Sunday. Here's what we know. Follow NBC10 Boston: https://instagram.com/nbc10boston https://tiktok.com/@nbc10boston https://facebook.com/NBC10Boston https://twitter.com/NBC10Boston https://bsky.app/profile/nbcboston.com

"It's a little scary," he added. "We had our entire family down there... As a parent, you just want to make sure your family is safe."

The MBTA posted on Twitter that delays of about 25 minutes were being reported on the Red Line due to police activity at Harvard. Shuttles have since replaced service.

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