‘Bomb’ Timeline
‘Bomb’ Timeline
¶ Just before 4 a.m.: Doyle spots the object and asks for MIT Police officer Jeffrey S. Williams to meet him on the lawn.
¶ 4 a.m.: Doyle calls for MIT Grounds Services to come and help remove the hack. They do not respond (few people are on-shift this early).
¶ 5 a.m.: MIT calls the Cambridge Fire Department to ensure that the “bomb” is not a dangerous device. The deputy fire chief is sent to the scene.
¶ 5:10 a.m.: Fire department representatives arrive.
¶ 6 a.m.: Cambridge officials tell MIT to secure the area around the “bomb.”
¶ 6:10 a.m.: Cambridge Police arrive.
¶ 6:38 a.m.: Cambridge Bomb Squad head Stephen Ahern, a lieutenant with the Cambridge Police, arrives on the scene.
¶ Circa 6:45 a.m.: The bomb squad sends a robot to inspect the “bomb.”
¶ Circa 7 a.m.: A technician wearing a protective suit approaches the “bomb” and investigates it.
¶ Circa 7 a.m.: Senior Associate Dean for Students Barbara A. Baker calls Burton-Conner housemasters Merritt Roe Smith and Bronwyn M. Mellquist to ask whether they know anything about the “bomb.” They schedule a 10 a.m. meeting.
¶ About 7:30 a.m.: A small explosive charge is detonated near the block.
¶ 8–8:30 a.m.: Numerous attempts are made to remove the block from the ground. Finally a fire truck is driven up onto the patio in front of Kresge Auditorium, a chain is attached to the block, and a winch is used to lift the block out of the ground.
¶ 8:40 a.m.: The area around Kresge is reopened.
¶ 6:47 p.m.: Burton Third issues an e-mailed apology for the events of Friday morning; see http://tech.mit.edu/V129/N22/bombsquad/burton.html.