Boston highway shut down over suspicious package
Wed Jan 31, 2007 9:41am ET

BOSTON (Reuters) - A section of highway north of Boston and a busy public transportation hub just outside of the city were shut down on Wednesday morning in the midst of the busy rush hour as police investigated a "suspicious package."

A bomb squad unit was trying to get close to the package which witnesses said looked like it had wires sticking out of it, a spokesman for the region's public transportation agency said.

"The package is on an elevated structure and they are trying to get at it with a cherry picker," MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo said.

The shutdown affected part of the northbound section of route 93, police said and it affected hundreds of passengers on area subways and buses.

"They're shutting it down for public safety," State Police Lt. Eric Anderson said.

Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Four more suspicious objects found

By John R. Ellement, Globe Staff

Investigators found a device on the BU Bridge today "similar to the Sullivan Square" package that forced the closure this morning of northbound Interstate 93, said Jennifer Mieth, spokeswoman for State Fire Marshal Stephen Coan, whose office oversees the State Police Bomb Squad.

Like the item found at the Sullivan Square station, the BU package was attached to the underpinnings of the bridge.

"It was not an explosive device," she said of the suspicious item found on the BU Bridge.

Mieth said State Police bomb experts are now examining a another suspicious item -- similar in construction to the items found at Sullivan station and on the BU Bridge -- that has been discovered attached to the Longfellow Bridge, which spans the Charles River from Boston to Cambridge.

Boston police are separately investigating suspicious items at Columbus and Stuart streets and near the New England Medical Center, Boston police said.

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.

"They have been in place for two to three weeks in Boston, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Seattle, Portland, Austin, San Francisco, and Philadelphia. Parent company Turner Broadcasting is in contact with local and federal law enforcement on the exact locations of the billboards. We regret that they were mistakenly thought to pose any danger."

"No matter who did this, I think there's probably enough evidence I think the Boston Police Department, the bureau, state police — everybody will probably get together … I wouldn't be surprised to see someone charged in this. This is an extremely serious situation," former FBI Director Bill Gavin told FOX News during the investigation.

"Whoever did this — whether it be kids or adults — if they think it's funny, I think they'll soon learn it's not that much of a humorous situation."