Bomb Threats Paralyze Boston

In the wake of Wednesday's car bombing in Oklahoma City which left 31 people dead, 200 injured and 300 others missing, Harvard Police Chief Paul E. Johnson issued bomb advisory notices to the Harvard community yesterday. And the Massachusetts Bay Transport Authority (MBTA) closed the subway for an hour after receiving an anonymous bomb threat.

"Once again, current events mandate that we remind our community of some of the do's and don't's relative to suspicious packages and bomb threats," Johnson's warning notice read.

Although no bomb threats have been received by members of the Harvard community, Johnson included a list of recognition signs for mail bombs and a list of procedures to be followed in case of bomb threats.

The MBTA, however, received a threat yesterday which forced a temporary shutdown of nearly the entire subway system yesterday afternoon.

"The city was paralyzed for nearly an hour," said Sean Canty, spokesperson for the MBTA.

The closure followed an 11:20 a.m. phone call to the Boston Police Department from an anonymous male who said he had placed four explosive packages in several unidentified downtown subway stations, Canty said.

"After discussions with the city and state police, the decision was made at 12:20 p.m. to evacuate and stop all transit coming into the city of Boston," he said.

Within 15 minutes, thousands of rush-hour commuters were evacuated from subway terminals and trains, Canty said. No explosives were found, and regular subway service resumed at approximately 1:05 p.m., he said.

Emergency officials think the threat may have been a "copy-cat incident" in the wake of the Okla-homa City bombing, according to a source at the MBTA.

Student Reactions

Harvard students from Oklahoma have reacted to the Oklahoma City bombing with emotions ranging from surprise and shock to worry and anxiety for relatives who remain at home.

Robert A. Waldo '98, who is from Oklahoma City, said when he heard about the bombing, he was immediately worried about his father who works two blocks from the federal building that was destroyed by the blast.

"I spoke with my family," Waldo said. "My mom was at the house about eight miles north of the city, and she said she could feel the house shake. Mydad was in an office building about two blocksaway and he said it felt like an airplane hadcrashed into the building."

Brandon C. Bethea '98, also an Oklahoma Cityresident, was also worried about family memberswhen he heard of the explosion. Bethea, however,was unable to contact his family for several hoursbecause some telephone lines in Oklahoma Cityweren't functioning after the explosion.

"I was nervous when I heard [about thebombing]," Bethea said. "My brother works a fewblocks from the building that was bombed."

Eventually, Bethea's mother was able to callhim from a pay phone to inform him that none ofhis family members had been injured.

Harvard Club of Oklahoma City representativeThomas P. Howell '73 was also upset by thebombing. Howell works in an office building threeblocks from the destroyed federal office building.

Although he "heard an extremely loud boom andsaw a black cloud of smoke," Howell said he had noidea of the extent of the destruction until hewent outside with a co-worker.

"Looking at [the building] from a differentvantage point, you would not think there was asingle survivor. You can see right through it,"Howell said.

Unlike other students who expressed surpriseover the incident, Tulsa resident R. Kyle Jones'98 said Oklahoma City made an easy target.

"Normally you think of my area of the countryas nice and secure. [But] when you think of it, itmakes sense," Jones said. "There is less securitybecause that sort of thing isn't expected."

"We like to think of Oklahoma as a nice, safe,secure state with higher morals because it is inthe Bible belt, but I guess we have our share ofcriminals too," Jones said.

C.R. McFadden contributed to the reportingof this story.

Brandon C. Bethea '98, also an Oklahoma Cityresident, was also worried about family memberswhen he heard of the explosion. Bethea, however,was unable to contact his family for several hoursbecause some telephone lines in Oklahoma Cityweren't functioning after the explosion.

"I was nervous when I heard [about thebombing]," Bethea said. "My brother works a fewblocks from the building that was bombed."

Eventually, Bethea's mother was able to callhim from a pay phone to inform him that none ofhis family members had been injured.

Harvard Club of Oklahoma City representativeThomas P. Howell '73 was also upset by thebombing. Howell works in an office building threeblocks from the destroyed federal office building.

Although he "heard an extremely loud boom andsaw a black cloud of smoke," Howell said he had noidea of the extent of the destruction until hewent outside with a co-worker.

"Looking at [the building] from a differentvantage point, you would not think there was asingle survivor. You can see right through it,"Howell said.

Unlike other students who expressed surpriseover the incident, Tulsa resident R. Kyle Jones'98 said Oklahoma City made an easy target.

"Normally you think of my area of the countryas nice and secure. [But] when you think of it, itmakes sense," Jones said. "There is less securitybecause that sort of thing isn't expected."

"We like to think of Oklahoma as a nice, safe,secure state with higher morals because it is inthe Bible belt, but I guess we have our share ofcriminals too," Jones said.

C.R. McFadden contributed to the reportingof this story.