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Downtown streets shut as police investigate, blow up suspicious suitcase near James Hook

By adamg on Fri, 12/04/2015 - 11:01am
Remains of the exploded package

Police investigate remains of exploded suitcase. Photo by Jonathan Berk.

Wanted

UPDATE: Arrest made.

Police are looking for a man they say left a large suitcase near a Homeland Security vehicle at the Coast Guard building on Atlantic Avenue around 9:50 a.m., then walked away in a hurry.

Police responding to the scene quickly shut Atlantic Avenue and Seaport Boulevard over the Evelyn Moakley Bridge as the bomb squad arrived. Eventually, an I-93 ramp was shut as well.

At least one building on the other side of Fort Point Channel was put into lockdown as a precaution.

Around 11:50 a.m. the bomb squad blew up the suitcase - which people heard 30 floors up at Atlantic and Summer and Broad Street near Faneuil Hall.

Bomb robot with the package.

Shopengarten got a street level view of streets being blocked:

Closed Atlantic Avenue
Neighborhoods: 
Downtown
Free tagging: 
Atlantic Avenue
Fort Point Channel
Moakley Bridge


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Comments

By Ishmael Jones on Fri, 12/04/2015 - 11:05am.

Lady on the T carrying a black bag, powder blowing in Somerville, package near Atlantic Ave....

I think I'll stay in bed today.

By Mjolnir on Fri, 12/04/2015 - 11:08am.

I heard unconfirmed reports of a man in a hoodie near DTX. Travel in a group if you must exit your home. But avoid congregations or crowds.

By Elmer Fudd on Fri, 12/04/2015 - 11:13am.

I have confirmation that there are loud planes flying into Boston. Protect your eardrums, everyone.

By BostonDog on Fri, 12/04/2015 - 11:56am.

I think I saw that guy this morning. He had his hands in his pockets. This is getting really scary.

By Katie5 on Fri, 12/04/2015 - 12:05pm.

O noes I saw him too I think! Was he listening to ... headphones?

By anon on Fri, 12/04/2015 - 12:30pm.

That was a suspicious looking squirrel if I ever saw one.

By Paco Gil on Fri, 12/04/2015 - 12:35pm.

Its 11:05! I'd say you committed to that decision already

By anon on Fri, 12/04/2015 - 1:19pm.

In light of this thread,

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/7drHiqrh.jpg)

By anon on Sat, 12/05/2015 - 8:54am.

Welcome to paranoia and security theatre.

By SatansFist on Sat, 12/05/2015 - 9:56am.

you feel that BPD planted the suitcase, went to all the trouble of detonating it, and then framed some dude?

it is the xmas season, can you please let me know what size your tinfoil hat is?

By MC Slim JB on Sat, 12/05/2015 - 12:35pm.

I don't think anon is suggesting that the incident was staged, rather that its outcome will include countermeasures that amount to security theater, i.e., actions taken by authorities that make people feel safer without effectively making them any safer.

A common example used by security professionals: in the wake of 9/11, the only two countermeasures that genuinely worked to mitigate similar attacks were: 1) reinforcing cockpit doors; and 2) retiring the old wisdom that passengers shouldn't fight back against attackers. Just about everything else (e.g., full-body scanners, intrusive pat-downs), amounted (and continues to amount) to security theater, yielding a very poor cost-to-threat-mitigation ratio.

A nice, clear summary of airport security theater here.

By makeshift_vicinity on Fri, 12/04/2015 - 11:17am.

I was walking in to work at around 10:10 AM and saw a few ambulances converging on that area. Wondered if it was a shooting or something. Sounds like nothing has actually gone down yet, which is good. Lots of helicopters hovering over Fort Point at the moment.

By JJ on Fri, 12/04/2015 - 12:32pm.

We started hearing the commotion from our office across the wharf a little before 10. What a morning!

By adamg on Fri, 12/04/2015 - 1:11pm.

Police say they got the call at 9:50 a.m. I've also updated the post with the photo they released.

By TommyJeff on Fri, 12/04/2015 - 11:21am.

"This business will get out of control. It will get out of control and we'll be lucky to live through it."

http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/female-shooting-suspect-pledged-allegiance-is...

By MattyC on Fri, 12/04/2015 - 11:51am.

Have you met Captain Ramius, General? Because I have.

By anon on Fri, 12/04/2015 - 11:31am.

Avoid the area. Traffic in the area is a mess. More than usual around south station etc.

By Cynthia M. Donovan on Fri, 12/04/2015 - 11:48am.

Congress Street (around the 300 block) is a parking lot.

By anon on Fri, 12/04/2015 - 11:48am.

This is beyond ridiculous

By ECG nli on Fri, 12/04/2015 - 11:54am.

it just sounded like an explosion--was it controlled by the authorities??

By adamg on Fri, 12/04/2015 - 12:07pm.

They even yelled "fire in the hole!"

By FenRes on Fri, 12/04/2015 - 12:21pm.

What the heck, it's Friday.....

By adamg on Fri, 12/04/2015 - 12:32pm.

Hole.

By Kaz on Fri, 12/04/2015 - 11:58am.

When will the chief be made available for hair questions?

Never Forget.

1-31-07

By Padhraic on Fri, 12/04/2015 - 12:03pm.

It was literally JUST here. Guys? guys? come on this isn't funny.

By anon on Fri, 12/04/2015 - 12:19pm.

First of all, the lite brite incident was allowed to get out of control by the people who planted the devices meant to market some stupid cartoon. The bomb squad gets a call that a device with power supply and wires is attached to the underside of an overpass, they're TRAINED to treat it as a bomb until proven otherwise. The guys who put them there were photographed filming it hours before finally contacting officials instead of minimizing the situation. Congratulations for having cable btw - so impressed.

Secondly, in this case, a person was witnessed walking a suitcase to place it next to a gov't SUV in front of Homeland Security and they leaving in a hurry. X-rays indicated that there was a power source and wires - just like a bomb. It was detonated as a precaution and will be investigated now that it isn't a threat.

What exactly should the police be doing that you think they aren't? Should they let the public in close proximity, in case it's not? Not x-ray it? Not treat it like the bomb that it appears to be? If it's not a bomb great! If it is, then they were able to detonate it before it could hurt anyone. I'm sure there's thousands of people who wish the police had been given this kind of opportunity during the Marathon bombing.

The only people "harmed" in this case were drivers stuck in traffic. Get over yourself.

By BostonDog on Fri, 12/04/2015 - 12:43pm.

Every time they get a call of a suspicious device I volunteer to walk over to it, open it, and inspect the contents. The police can stand at a distance.

Sure, I could be killed. I'm willing to put my life at risk to save the general public hundreds of thousands of dollars that they would have spent on the bomb squad, closed roads, police OT, etc.

Though I'm happy to die if I'm wrong, I'm not concerned for my safety in the slightest. The few times there has been a real bomb it was detonated shortly after the person left it. This isn't Iraq. Terrorists aren't leaving backpacks alone for hours waiting for a group to congregate. The terrorists ARE happy that we're so paranoid.

By lbb on Fri, 12/04/2015 - 2:27pm.

Though I'm happy to die if I'm wrong

What a dope. What a stupid thing to die for.

By BostonDog on Fri, 12/04/2015 - 2:33pm.

Think what you want. I'd rather die from a terrorist bomb then spend my life living in fear of one. These never ending bomb scares and theatrical production by the police of blowing up suitcases only reinforce fear and suspicion.

By lbb on Fri, 12/04/2015 - 3:50pm.

I'd rather die from a terrorist bomb then spend my life living in fear of one.

Unless you're a big fan of melodrama or lacking in imagination and vision, there are more than those two choices in life.

By BostonDog on Fri, 12/04/2015 - 4:21pm.

I wouldn't die. My chances of being killed by a drunk driver who just won the lottery are far more likely then any risk I face in opening a "suspicious" backpack. I face a far greater risk in GETTING to the "suspicious" backpack then I do from opening it.

I'm so confident these "threats" are bogus I'm will to risk my life. And if I'm wrong history will think I'm a fool. But if I'm right I just saved society millions of dollars they would have wasted on useless crap for the police.

By erik g on Fri, 12/04/2015 - 3:34pm.

Considering that, out of the billions of times that someone has put their backpack on the ground for a minute in the last couple decades, there have been fewer than ten explosives detonated, I'd say his chances are pretty good. Given the choice between investigating a random backpack on the sidewalk or driving to work in the morning, you're much less likely to die in the latter case than in the former, but sensationalists gonna sensationalize.

I also volunteer as tribute, if it will save me from having to sit in the 93 southbound slog for an hour while the entire downtown shuts down for another episode of security theater.

By ECG nli on Fri, 12/04/2015 - 12:50pm.

You talk sense. Why not give yourself a nickname to differentiate yourself from the infinite number of anons?

By roadman on Fri, 12/04/2015 - 12:51pm.

that will cause damage to people and infrastructure (like the I-93 tunnel) if it goes off. So we'll block the area off, stop traffic and then detonate it IN PLACE.

Huh?

By Kaz on Fri, 12/04/2015 - 1:54pm.

But what it really is is "disruption". Bombs have to have a trigger, a detonator, and a main charge. If you disrupt the detonator/main charge connection, then no bomb. If you use a high-pressure water system to deliver a jet of water that is strong enough to rupture and disperse the possible "bomb" into lots of pieces, then you'll likely break that connection, break any container that was providing the pressure vessel for the explosion to be efficient, wet down any explosive material, and spread the material over a wide range to reduce any chance of pressure building up if you set off a counter-measure.

By Kinopio on Fri, 12/04/2015 - 1:38pm.

If they had shown a picture of the Moononite lite-brites to anyone under the age of 30 they could have told them what it was. They were put in other cities too and they didn't overreact and lock down neighborhoods. That was an embarrassing moment in Boston history.

By lbb on Fri, 12/04/2015 - 2:29pm.

That was an embarrassing moment in Boston history.

Oh my goodness, a dose of perspective, please. A black man getting speared by an American flag wielded by a bunch of crackers? That was an embarrassing moment in Boston history. A Muslim woman getting rousted by vigilantes on the Green Line? That was an embarrassing moment in Boston history. This business with the so-called Lite Brites? Not so much.

By Ben on Fri, 12/04/2015 - 2:48pm.

There's plenty of embarassment to go around. Can't we all just agree to be emmbarrassed about all of these things at the same time? For the record, I'd like to add the molasses flood to our city's embarrasing moments. I mean, who drowns in molasses? And on a personal level, I'm getting pretty embaressed about my poor spelling of "embarrass".

By tape on Fri, 12/04/2015 - 3:50pm.

I'd classify those more as disgusting moments. Certainly embarrassing, but embarrassment is not the primary attribute of those events.

When you were a teenager and one of your parents or grandparents did something in front of you and all your peers demonstrating that they were hopelessly out of touch and everyone laughed at you? That's embarrassment. It's also exactly what happened on Mooninite Day. Old doofuses overreacted to something they didn't understand and the rest of the country laughed at us.

By anon on Fri, 12/04/2015 - 2:30pm.

Not to mention those Mooninite ads were up for days before somebody overreacted and suddenly decided they were bomba. I walked past one on my way to work. None of the authorities noticed these things were already up for a substantial amount of time without blowing up? Most definitely an embarrassing moment in Boston history.

By Steeve on Fri, 12/04/2015 - 3:51pm.

I generally stop taking people seriously once they throw out the term "hipsters". Thankfully anon got it out of the way early so I could save a couple minutes of my time.

By BostonDog on Fri, 12/04/2015 - 12:26pm.

Said it matched her shirt. I think she was headed to Logan.

By George_Apley on Fri, 12/04/2015 - 12:18pm.

This is close to the Fed. AFAIK the Coast Guard only have their HQ in the North End...

By anon on Fri, 12/04/2015 - 12:22pm.

First Coast Guard District
408 Atlantic Avenue
Boston, MA 02110

http://www.uscg.mil/d1/Directions.asp

google is a thing

By zetag on Fri, 12/04/2015 - 12:25pm.

http://www.uscg.mil/d1/Directions.asp

By Kaz on Fri, 12/04/2015 - 12:29pm.

About a year ago just after Labor Day, a group of friends and I reserved a camping spot on the Harbor Islands. You have to truck everything to the island yourself, including fresh water. So we had a lot of gear for 14 people. I rented a white van from Zipcar and picked everyone's stuff up and we tossed it on the sidewalk at the curb pretty much right in the same vicinity as today's package. I drove away while my friends that came with me at the time went to the dock to secure something to carry the stuff to our charter boat.

I imagine there were brief periods where our pile of giant duffels were sitting there with limited supervision. I'm glad nobody blew them up...or even asked whose they were.

By cybah on Fri, 12/04/2015 - 12:31pm.

I still want to do that... camp on the harbor islands. I might pick your brain on that and what it was like...

By HarryMattison on Fri, 12/04/2015 - 12:43pm.

some islands are more rustic (Grape, Bumpkin), others have running water, indoor bathrooms, etc (Peddocks). All have great views of the city, beaches, nature

By chaosjake on Fri, 12/04/2015 - 12:59pm.

It's a lot of fun. As mentioned above, Peddock's has running water and flush toilets during the day (composting toilets overnight, when the ranger station is locked up). It makes for a pretty good blend of camping without having to really rough it. Lots of structures from Fort Warren Andrews (duh) to explore, and you can walk to the other side of the island to swim and beachcomb.

By Kaz on Fri, 12/04/2015 - 2:01pm.

For the most part, we had a great time. There were some 4-6 AM flight patterns that annoyed some of the campers, though, as it seemed like they were aimed at our island (Lovells). And we were on the island when a really vicious storm front came through (amazing to watch...a little scary to weather through and had to take down some of the less sturdy tents/canopies we had up). But everyone there would do it again.

By brianjdamico on Fri, 12/04/2015 - 12:37pm.

Probably helped that your bags weren't left next to a law enforcement vehicle parked outside a federal/military headquarters building in a heavily trafficked area of a city.

By anon on Fri, 12/04/2015 - 1:22pm.

And that it wasn't just a single bag that you dropped and walked away from in a hurry

By Kaz on Fri, 12/04/2015 - 1:56pm.

We were near the fancy hotel valet next door.

By Andrew8-8000 on Fri, 12/04/2015 - 12:31pm.

Mad traffic

By Kinopio on Fri, 12/04/2015 - 1:42pm.

When isn't there? Can't say I feel bad for the people who insist on sitting in traffic when they work next to the biggest bus and train station in New England.

By anon on Fri, 12/04/2015 - 2:05pm.

If you can go one comment without the anti-vehicle snark.

By ElizaLeila on Fri, 12/04/2015 - 3:46pm.

There isn't traffic plenty of times. It's a city, there are vehicles. Big Deal. There are times of traffic and times of easy moving vehicles. If you drove in Boston you'd know this.

By issacg on Fri, 12/04/2015 - 12:47pm.

That is, we can be flip about "security theater" because we know that it is most likely that: (1) some incredibly absent-minded person left his/her suitcase unattended next to a random car in the middle of a busy city; or (2) that some jerk knowingly left a suitcase next to a clearly-marked federal law enforcement vehicle in the middle of a busy city to solicit a costly response while laughing about it from some remote vantage point.

Most importantly, we can be flip because all is well, and because we know that if this was instead some person with sinister intent conducting a dry run to gauge response protocol, time, etc., they might now consider carrying out their sinister plan elsewhere, where there will not be such a robust response, and where there will likely be many more victims as a result.

By nona on Fri, 12/04/2015 - 12:55pm.

BPD is particularly sensitive to this given the marathon and Jeremiah Hurley

http://www.odmp.org/officer/269-officer-jeremiah-j-hurley-jr#

By nona on Fri, 12/04/2015 - 1:59pm.

By looking at the pictures on Twitter, it wasn't left in the area of a Homeland Security vehicle, it was left leaning against it. I'm with being cautious on this one, although it did appear to be mostly clothes flying out of the detonation.

By fefu on Fri, 12/04/2015 - 12:55pm.

Since they blew it up, doesn't that mean we'll never really find out if it was a real bomb? I'm sure they can learn a little from blown up debris, but it seems like a lot of the evidence will be destroyed.

Can't we make robots that can actually open things like this and take pics so we can see whether these suspicious packages are really threats?

MIT get on this!

By Elmer on Fri, 12/04/2015 - 1:16pm.

By fefu on Fri, 12/04/2015 - 1:15pm.

Ha ha. Not a Zune or iPod touch, a WALKMAN! Now that would be really funny.

By BostonDog on Fri, 12/04/2015 - 1:55pm.

None of the kids immediately thought it was a bomb. Maybe there is hope for future generations.

By bulgingbuick on Fri, 12/04/2015 - 1:52pm.

Sully, or Okie. Nah maybe its Macka or Obie. Its definitely not Guido or Fat head....

By mariac on Fri, 12/04/2015 - 3:00pm.

I haven't read much about the details, if there are any. Does anyone know if it was filled with nails and other assortment of metals and glass? Or was that some lawyer who decided to abandon his brief case to run off to Lancaster to raise Jersey cows and sell cheese for a living?

By adamg on Fri, 12/04/2015 - 3:10pm.

Nothing harmful in it.

By Michael Kerpan on Fri, 12/04/2015 - 4:26pm.

... and then dumped after anything of value (if any) had been removed....

By alabb on Fri, 12/04/2015 - 3:05pm.

https://d3dqvga78raec5.cloudfront.net/post_photos/cc/3b/cc3b7e34918c1fd6...

By Kaz on Fri, 12/04/2015 - 3:53pm.

A picture for ants???

By Elmer on Fri, 12/04/2015 - 4:36pm.

IMAGE(https://elmercatdotorg.files.wordpress.com/2015/12/ant-picture.jpg)

By Boston_res on Fri, 12/04/2015 - 4:26pm.

In Lawrence? That's some serious police work if so.

By Ron Newman on Fri, 12/04/2015 - 6:17pm.

Littering? Other than that, what is illegal about forgetting your suitcase somewhere like this guy did?

By Linda on Fri, 12/04/2015 - 6:30pm.

Seems like the kind of guy to threaten an entire bar.

http://www.seacoastonline.com/article/20091016/News/910160368

By Sam the Eagle on Fri, 12/04/2015 - 10:49pm.

A bartender quickly took out a handgun, escorted him out of the bar and then called 911.

A handgun used to keep people safe and remove the criminal from the situation. NO shots fired. In New Hampshire, no less. That's how it's SUPPOSED to work.