Reports of a man loading and unloading a gun on a red line train at an MBTA station in Cambridge alarmed police late Friday, according to scanner reports. No news of violence followed, but the sight of firearms is unusual in the city.
The situation was brought to Cambridge police attention at 11:30 p.m. by the MBTA Transit Police, which gave a location – the last car of a train – and a description of the man holding a gun. There was no resolution an hour later, though, and the man may simply have taken the train to a destination and left without using the weapon.
Police believed the man – a tall man wearing a T-shirt and carrying a skateboard – had traveled to Central Square and left the train there on the outbound side, according to scanner reports.
Initial communications were garbled. Harvard Station was the first location mentioned for the incident, specifically the outbound platform, which makes it unclear how the man was soon seen on the outbound at Central. Trains were stopped at Porter and Central squares upon reports of a problem, according to scanner reports. At 11:35 p.m., a call came from a police officer that “We’re going to deploy a rifle for this.” The drama became more diffuse when the officers for two agencies seemed unclear where the man had gone.
A photo of the man was being distributed shortly after midnight and police focused on a search around Central Square and of a platform at Central Station, according to scanner reports. At 12:38 a.m. Cambridge police referred questions to the MBTA Transit Police, where a dispatcher referred questions to lieutenant Richard Sullivan. An email was sent to Sullivan seeking information.
On Saturday, Sullivan said his department had received an anonymous call saying there was a man “handling” a firearm aboard a red line “in the vicinity of Central Square.”
Officers from the two departments “checked several trains and did not locate anyone matching the description provided. An area search was conducted to no avail. No witnesses/victims came forward,” Sullivan said, but transit detectives are investigating.
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