Here’s why there was a heavy police presence in Harvard Square
A homicide suspect was ultimately taken into custody.
A search for a homicide suspect shut down part of Harvard Square on Tuesday and prompted the university to issue a “shelter in place” alert to its community.Harvard University sent out the alert around 12:30 p.m., urging people to avoid the area of JFK and Eliot streets as authorities searched for the “potentially armed assailant.”Cambridge police said the search was for 31-year-old Sohan Panjrolia, a former Harvard student and a wanted suspect in a Philadelphia murder who was believed to be in the Cambridge area. Panjrolia received a bachelor’s degree in 2013 from Harvard University Extension School, according to a university spokesperson.Cambridge police said Panjrolia was taken into custody around 12:45 p.m. Police located him at the Ben & Jerry’s at 36 John F. Kennedy St., according to the department.
Large police presence near Harvard Square #WCVB pic.twitter.com/EX34myclS4
— Matt Reed (@MattReedNews) August 6, 2019
Update: We can confirm that the suspect — Sohan Panjrolia — has been taken into custody. #CambMA #HarvardSquare
— Cambridge Police Department (@CambridgePolice) August 6, 2019
#BREAKING: Cambridge Police confirm suspect in Philadelphia homicide taken into custody near Harvard Square. SkyEye captured him being loaded into a police cruiser pic.twitter.com/OzSlp819yO
— WBZ | CBS News Boston (@wbz) August 6, 2019
Harvard lifted the shelter in place when Panjrolia was taken into custody.
Federal, state, and local authorities conducted the search, according to Cambridge police.
#Cambridge update: Suspect in Harvard Square incident is in custody. Great work by all involved, especially @CambridgePolice when taking suspect into custody.
More info when available. #CambMA https://t.co/CRrXNQgWcL
— Mass State Police (@MassStatePolice) August 6, 2019
Panjrolia allegedly fatally shot his 60-year-old father, Mahendra B. Panjrolia, on Saturday evening. Philadelphia police said the shooting occurred around 9:31 p.m. when the 31-year-old retrieved an “assault rifle” from the home’s upper floor and first discharged the weapon once in a bathroom on the first floor. He then allegedly left the bathroom and pointed the gun in the direction of his mother and father, firing multiple shots, one of which struck his father in the head.
In their advisory, Philadelphia police said Sohan suffers from schizophrenia and may have been under the influence of narcotics.
https://twitter.com/CambridgePolice/status/1158850064107868160
