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MIT apologizes for false ‘active shooter’ alert

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is apologizing for issuing an alert about an active shooter on campus last weekend. The university ...
MIT false alarm

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is apologizing for issuing an alert about an active shooter on campus last weekend.

The university issued the alert Sunday afternoon following reports of gunfire at a Cambridge street festival near campus. The alert was quickly cancelled.

MIT’s executive vice president and treasurer Israel Ruiz on Tuesday apologized for the “confusion and distress” caused by the alert and blamed it on human error.

He said it was caused by “accidental engagement of prescripted language we have prepared for a specific contingency: a time when we believe that someone is on our campus and shooting.”

He said at no time Sunday did anyone at MIT believe there was a danger on campus.

A woman sustained non-life threatening injuries in Sunday’s shooting. There have been no arrests.

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