Letter to the community from MIT’s EVP/Treasurer and Chancellor
“While the circumstances around the officer’s death remain the subject of an active investigation, what is certain is that the officer gave his life to defend the peace of our campus.”
“I just had four cops walk into the bar I’m at and take off their hats while watching the news.”
— via.
The Atlantic Wire also has coverage of the incident, which includes a somewhat graphic aerial photo of the crime scene.
UPDATE: According to NBC Connecticut, in touch with Massachusetts state police, the police officer involved in the shooting has died. Fox 25 in Boston is also reporting this.
At 10:48 PM today gunshots were reported near Building 32 (Stata) which is currently surrounded by responding agencies. The area is cordoned off. Please stay clear of area until further notice. Unknown if injuries have occurred. Although the situation is considered active and extremely dangerous, an investigation is underway. Updates will be provided at this site when more information becomes available.Now at MIT.
To the members of the MIT community:
Yesterday we received the shocking and terrible news that on Friday in New York, Aaron Swartz, a gifted young man well known and admired by many in the MIT community, took his own life. With this tragedy, his family and his friends suffered an inexpressible loss, and we offer our most profound condolences. Even for those of us who did not know Aaron, the trail of his brief life shines with his brilliant creativity and idealism.
Although Aaron had no formal affiliation with MIT, I am writing to you now because he was beloved by many members of our community and because MIT played a role in the legal struggles that began for him in 2011.
I want to express very clearly that I and all of us at MIT are extremely saddened by the death of this promising young man who touched the lives of so many. It pains me to think that MIT played any role in a series of events that have ended in tragedy.
I will not attempt to summarize here the complex events of the past two years. Now is a time for everyone involved to reflect on their actions, and that includes all of us at MIT. I have asked Professor Hal Abelson to lead a thorough analysis of MIT’s involvement from the time that we first perceived unusual activity on our network in fall 2010 up to the present. I have asked that this analysis describe the options MIT had and the decisions MIT made, in order to understand and to learn from the actions MIT took. I will share the report with the MIT community when I receive it.
I hope we will all reach out to those members of our community we know who may have been affected by Aaron’s death. As always, MIT Medical is available to provide expert counseling, but there is no substitute for personal understanding and support.
With sorrow and deep sympathy,
L. Rafael Reif
Swartz, who died Friday, faced charges in regards to a 2011 incident where he used a laptop on the MIT campus to download millions of articles from JSTOR. The university has faced heavy controversy from the hacker world for the incident, with some in belief that the university acted in a way that put Swartz in significant legal danger. (ht @peteyMIT)
The tech community was quick to respond strongly to reports of Swartz’s death Saturday morning, with much written in reaction to his loss, including:
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