BOSTON (WHDH) — The city of Boston will be increasing security at concerts and sporting events after police said the Las Vegas gunman researched venues in the area.
Boston Police Commissioner William Evans said the FBI told him Wednesday night that Stephen Paddock researched locations in Boston online, specifically hotels near Fenway Park and the Boston Center for the Arts. While Paddock searched for hotels near Fenway, no one with his name ever booked a room and Evans said he never traveled to the Boston area.
Evans said police will be stepping up their efforts, especially because there are a lot of events in the city coming up soon. He said next week, police will be meeting with hotel officials on ways to increase security.
“We had a concert on City Hall Plaza, we have the Red Sox coming to town Sunday, we’re gonna step up,” said Evans. “We’ve got road races, we’ve got Bruno Mars, we’ve got a lot in the city, we’re gonna step up our efforts in and around them.”
Despite the added security, Gov. Charlie Baker (R-Mass.) said people should not panic because there is no immediate threat in Boston.
“We’ve been in constant contact with the fusion center and they’ve been in constant contact with Las Vegas,” said Baker. “We believe we’re fully plugged in on that investigation and there’s no imminent threat in Massachusetts or New England.”
State Sen. Michael Moore (D-Shrewsbury), the Public Safety and Homeland Security chair, said metal detectors, explosive-sniffing dogs and undercover police officers will be used. He said more information gathering also needs to be done before attacks happen.
“If you’re looking at the guns he purchased, if there had been some tracking of that, they could have shared that information with local police that he bought 33 guns in the last year, that might be of some concern,” said Moore.
Boston Mayor Marty Walsh said anyone at these events in the city should be vigilant and alert police if they see anything suspicious.
The FBI said they will be working with Boston Police and Massachusetts State Police to investigate “any and all potential leads” connected to Las Vegas.
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