TERROR SCARE AT HARVARD DURING FINALS

A police officer secures an area at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., on Monday. Associated Press

BOSTON—Harvard University students were allowed to return to two buildings Monday afternoon after an earlier report of bombs on campus forced the evacuation of four buildings, the school said.

Students were allowed back into Thayer Hall, a dorm, and classrooms in Emerson Hall. The other two buildings, the Science Center and Sever Hall, were still being checked, officials said.

After receiving the bomb report in the morning, the Harvard University Police Department ordered students and others to evacuate. Access to Harvard Yard was restricted.

"Harvard's focus is on the safety of our students, faculty and staff," the university, based in Cambridge, Mass., said.

Harvard requested that the Massachusetts State Police send its bomb squad and bomb dogs, said Trooper Dustin Fitch. The Federal Bureau of Investigation was also responding to the incident, officials said.

The Harvard Crimson, a campus newspaper, reported that a dean told students there that exams were canceled for the morning, according to the paper's Twitter feed.

There were briefly worries Monday about yet another campus threat in the area, after the University of Massachusetts Boston tweeted that there was a "possible person with a firearm" and evacuated a building. But the state police quickly said the report was false and the scene was clear.