Gunman shoots policeman dead at Boston university

Police cars at the scene of the reported shooting at MIT university in th Boston in Cambridge. Source: Twitter

A GUNMAN has shot dead a Massachusetts Institute of Technology police officer in an eruption of gunfire at the prestigious Boston university, authorities said.

Cambridge police and the Middlesex District Attorney's office says the officer was responding to a report of a disturbance when he was shot multiple times. He later died at a hospital. His name was not immediately released.

The university said the situation was ''extremely dangerous'' and warned students in an emergency alert on its website to stay indoors. It said one building on campus had been surrounded by police.

"Please stay clear of area until further notice. Unknown if injuries have occurred," the emergency alert notice said.

MIT is located in Cambridge, across the Charles River from Boston, and about 2km from the site of the Boston Marathon bombings. About 11,000 students attend the prestigious school.

However, no link between the two incidents has been immediately made.

The university alert said the gunshots started at 10:48pm (0248 GMT) and that the building where the shots were fired had been ''surrounded by responding agencies.''

There was a major police presence in the district including officers with rifles and a search helicopter overhead, news reports said.

Source: THE AUSTRALIAN