Package explosion at Northeastern University injures 1 in Boston; FBI, ATF join probe

A package detonated inside a Northeastern University building, injuring one man and sending Boston Police and federal bomb squads sweeping through the campus and taking out a second suspicious parcel as cops searched for who could be behind it.

At 7:18 p.m. Tuesday, cops were called to 39 Leon St. on Northeastern’s campus for reports that a package had detonated.

First responders found a 45-year-old college staffer with “minor” hand injuries inside the building where the package blew up, and took him to the hospital. The wounds are not life-threatening, authorities said.

The BPD bomb squad found a second suspicious package, which the squad “rendered safe,” cops said. No one was immediately arrested.

“The scene is secure and that the investigation is ongoing,” Boston Police Superintendent Felipe Colon told reporters at a press conference around 10:30 p.m. outside police headquarters just a few blocks away.

All the brass came out to the presser after the eerie reports of an explosion and the rush of emergency vehicles that invoked bad memories in a city that’s had its fair share of them. Boston Fire and EMS also were on scene and joined the press conference, which ran just over five minutes.

BPD Commissioner Michael Cox and Mayor Michelle Wu were joined by Northeastern Police and the FBI, who vowed federal resources including bomb squads and the Joint Terrorist Task Force

“Many folks out there, they might see something — say something and let us know and dial 911,” Cox said.

Wu thanked the first responders, calling it a “very very swift, coordinated and effective response within minutes.”

As is often the case with incidents that involve the feds, little further information was immediately available from the assorted authorities assembled.

Any motive? “No, it’s ongoing — it’s a fluid investigation.”

Any threatening calls or anything like that? “It’s a fluid, ongoing investigation.”

Were the packages rigged to blow? “We’re working on trying to find out — to get all those facts.”

Harvard, MIT and other area colleges stepped up security as the report of the explosion spread into the evening.

Northeastern sent out campus-wide alerts and eventually canceled classes and evacuated buildings in the area in the aftermath of the blast. The explosion did not appear to cause structural damage to the building, which was not a dorm, authorities said. The college identified it as Holmes Hall.

Leon Street, which runs through campus, remained behind police tape and awash in flashing red and blue lights deep into the night.

Northeastern Police Chief Michael Davis told reporters that one of his cops responded within a minute of the call.

“It’s very important to note that our campus is secure,” he said in the press conference three hours later.