Posted on 01/31/2007 12:04:30 PM PST by Howlin
BOSTON -- Four "hoax devices" were found at several Boston locations Wednesday, hours after officials detonated a suspicious package on an elevated structure above the Sullivan Square Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority station.
The additional packages were found at the Boston University Bridge, the Longfellow Bridge and near the intersection of Stuart and Columbus streets. A device described by officials as a pipe bomb was found in the basement of the Tufts New England Medical Center at 185 Harrison Ave.
A spokesman for the Boston Police Department said that all of the packages appeared to be similar.
"Our device was not an active device. We are still treating the area as a crime scene. There were no injuries. Everyone was evacuated properly, and everyone now back to their locations," Tufts New England Medical Center's Brooke Hynes said.
Mayor Tom Menino said that all of the packages found posed no danger, but the incidents remained under investigation. Storrow Drive eastbound was shut down for a brief time, and the MBTA suspended service on the Red Line and planned to bus afternoon commuters between Kendall and Park Street stations.
Earlier Wednesday, the state police bomb squad was called and detonated the package in Sullivan Square just before 10 a.m. Officials said it contained an electronic circuit board with some components that were "consistent with an improvised explosive device," but they said it had no explosives. They determined that the device was not dangerous, but destroyed it as a precaution.
"We determined that this device, in particular, was not explosive," said MBTA Lt. Sal Venturelli.
He said MBTA police were told about the package by a transit passenger who spotted it on a column that supports Interstate 93. The parcel was located on an elevated structure above the bus way and below I-93 in the Charlestown section of Boston at about 8 a.m.
"This is a perfect example of our passengers taking part in Homeland Security," Venturelli said.
An investigation will be conducted into how the package got there and when, he said.
Train service on the Orange Line between Sullivan Square and Wellington stations was suspended in both directions. No injuries were reported.
The northbound side of I-93 was closed, causing significant traffic backups. Motorists were not allowed to access the highway near Sullivan Square coming up from the south.
Thanks.
And I'm impressed that you can do that; I have one and have never been able to figure out how to do it!
I agree.
According to FOX one of the packages contained a photo of a guy flipping off the authorities.
Shep Smith -- the new Rosanne Rosana-Dana.
COOL! I call dibs!
Do Islamists use the bird sign? Don't think I've ever seen one flip somebody off.
Odd, isn't it?
So it was all a series of hoaxes? The perp should be caned in public square before he starts a long prison sentence.
And is there really a picture of someone giving the finger in one of the packages?
Somerville police now investigating suspicious package.
When its the real thing, it won't be a "suspicious package". It'll fit right it.
These are clearly either a cruel and stupid joke, dry runs/tests of response time, or another in a series to breakdown alertness(i.e. 49 "wolf in sheeps clothes", so that officials won't take #50 "wolf" as serious)
With muslims the bottom of the feet is offensive for some reason.
It's got to be John Kerry. The location makes sense.
Shep Smith o-smith-o-smitha here. What's with these new terrorist "hooks devices?", and why do they say we shouldn't worry about them? Hooks can be dangerous. When I was a kid, I remember trying to catch fish, and I wouldn't use worms because they were just too squirmy and I didn't like stabbing them, but I used fish hooks, and once I got one stuck in my finger, and it hurt so bad I cried and cried until my mommie kissed it and made me feel better, but I haven't been able to fish since.
And not just fish hooks. I remember that evil guy who treated those boys so bad, Captain Hook, he had that big hook, and it struck fear in the hearts of people everywhere -- it's the perfect terrorist weapon, reminding us of the fears of our youth. So we shouldn't dismiss these "hooks devices" as being harmless, becuase....
"What's that? Not Hooks? Hoax? Oh, "Hoax Devices", as in "not real", not "Hooks Devices".
Never mind.
It sure does!
What I heard on CNN is the circuit board LIT UP with a SMILEY FACE and the a MIDDLE FINGER as flipping one off.
Someone has a sense of humour yet disturbingly disruptive.
"hoax devices"
Hillary's campaign is in Boston?
I suspect the "hoaxer" is going to find out that people in general, and the legal system in particular, do not have a well-developed sense of humor about this kind of thing.
sw
This is the line on Drudge:
"Federal security official: Circuit board lights lit up like a smiley face and a middle finger.... "
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