CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) - The Massachusetts Institute of Technology says a person who called in a hoax about a gunman on campus said the gunman was a staff member looking for revenge after the suicide of an Internet activist accused of illegally using MIT computers.
The Boston Herald says MIT executive vice president Israel Ruiz wrote in a campus-wide email Wednesday the caller indicated the gunman "was retaliating against people involved in the suicide of Aaron Swartz." Ruiz says MIT's president was identified as the target.
Swartz killed himself in New York last month while awaiting trial on charges he used MIT's computer network to illegally download academic articles. Critics blame federal prosecutors for his suicide. Prosecutors have defended the charges.
MIT says investigators determined the staffer named in the Saturday call was "found not to be connected to the incident."
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