During Exam, Man Threatens to Blow Up Science Center

A man walked into a Science Center exam room and threatened to set off a bomb yesterday morning, before students fled and police took him into custody. No one was harmed in the incident. The man did not have a bomb.

The man, who police said identified himself as Kenneth E. Leong, 21, pled not guilty to charges of making a false bomb threat, disorderly conduct and trespassing at his arraignment yesterday. He was committed to a hospital for a 20-day mental evaluation after an evaluation by a court psychiatrist.

The man interrupted the final exam of Literature and Arts B-21: "Images of Alexander the Great," in Science Center B at around 9:40 a.m. About 250 students--half the class--were in the room.

Loeb Professor of Classical Art and Archaeology David G. Mitten, the course professor, described the man as tall and thin, with facial hair, a dark complexion and dark clothes. He said the man looked "extremely agitated."

As the exam was just beginning with several slide identifications, the man threw a brick at the blackboard and, after whipping off a satchel he had slung around his neck, informed the room that he had a bomb and "would kill everyone."

Mitten demanded "Who are you? There's an exam going on." The man replied that his name was "Romanticist" and that if anyone tried to leave the room he would detonate his bomb. He said he was "declaring war on the United States of America."

Mitten said his first thought was that the man was a student late for an exam, but then, "I realized he was dead serious and this was real trouble."

The man told the students to put their heads down on their desks, but one student jumped up and ran out, starting a "stampede" for the door, according to Brandan A. Kramer '01, a student in the exam room. (Science Center B housed students in the course with last names from A to P.)

"I wasn't going to wait around and be held hostage," said Cecily A. Flemings '03, one of the students who fled the lecture hall.

Mitten, Teaching Fellow Marc A. Lindemann and one student--Kris A. Garin '01--remained in the room with the man until police arrived.

The man demanded a cell phone to call the police, but when none of those present had one to offer, he said he would "wait until the police contact us," according to Lindemann.

Leong then walked back up to the center of the room, sat down and began drinking a student's soda that had been left behind in the rush, witnesses said. He mentioned that he had put up posters this week around campus but that everyone had ignored them. He did not specify the type of posters.

As the students fled the room, others in the Science Center followed them. One student set off the building's fire alarm, and the building was evacuated without incident.

Emergency units were on scene within minutes of the threat. By 10 a.m., Cambridge Police Department (CPD) officers sealed the streets around the Science Center with police line tape.

Cambridge Emergency Management also responded to the threat, joining two companies of the Cambridge Fire Department, including ladder trucks and heavy rescue units.

HUPD Chief Francis D. "Bud" Riley said Leong, the suspect, struggled when officers tried to arrest him and was subdued using mace.

After the arrest, CPD bomb technicians examined the man's satchel, which had been left in the Science Center. They determined that it was not an explosive and removed it as well.

Outside, Mitten talked with students as news helicopters hovered overhead.

"I'm just glad everyone's okay. I want to thank you all for acting with cool heads," he said. He added jokingly, "This is an insult to Alexander!"

Around 11:30 a.m., HUPD reopened the building to allow students to retrieve belongings they had left behind. Under the watchful eye of a half-a-dozen HUPD and CPD officers, students filed into Science Center B and retrieved their coats and bags. HUPD also allowed students, faculty and staff back into the other areas of the building to retrieve belongings.

Afterwards, Mitten took all the teaching fellows involved out to lunch at the Faculty Club to collect themselves and calm down. Mitten praised his students' conduct.

"They were all heroes," he said. "They all really kept their heads and acted with real presence of mind."

Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis '68 happened to be in the Faculty Club at the time and picked up the tab for Mitten's lunch.

"I thought they deserved a lift. They were maybe a bit rattled, though in good spirits overall," he said.

Arraignment

At his arraignment yesterday afternoon at Cambridge District Court, Leong refused counsel and pled not guilty to the charges against him.

"I'd like to waive the right to have an attorney," Leong told the court yesterday. "I'd like no lawyer." Leong swayed back and forth and muttered to himself during most of the hearing.

Carol Beck, Leong's court-appointed public defender, said afterward that her client was "obviously mentally ill."

She said after the arraignment because of "a question of his competency," Leong has been committed to a 20-day competency evaluation at the Erich Lindemann Mental Health Center in Boston.

The court reserved the right to appoint a "shadow counsel" despite Leong's efforts to decline representation.

Leong is scheduled to reappear in court for a pre-trial hearing Feb. 6.

Beck said Leong, who identified himself to police as a homeless person from Cambridge, was originally from Tierrasanta, Calif.

--Staff writers Marc J. Ambinder, Edward B. Colby, David H. Gellis, David S. Stolzar and Joseph P. Flood contributed to the reporting of this story.

--Staff writer Garrett M Graff can be reached at ggraff@fas.harvard.edu. Staff writer Adam M. Lalley can be reached at lalley@fas.harvard.edu.