Late-night trespassing at Quabbin by foreign students triggers precautionary state-wide terrorism alert

WARE - Massachusetts State Police announced Tuesday that it has notified the FBI and state terrorism officials after learning that seven people stopped for trespassing at the Quabbin Reservoir just after midnight Tuesday turned out to be from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Singapore.

State Police spokesman David Procopio said there is no evidence that the group of seven who were stopped at the reservoir near the middle entrance were engaged in terrorism or any crime beyond the trespassing charge.


Still, he said, state police have alerted officials with the FBI office in Springfield and the Commonwealth Fusion Center, which is the state’s centralized hub for collecting and analyzing data related to possible terrorism and threats to public safety.

Procopio said the state police would also be increasing patrols at Quabbin and at other water supplies around the state. The Quabbin is the major water supplier for the eastern part of the state, but also supplies water to Chicopee, Wilbraham and part of South Hadley. When full, the Quabbin holds 412 billion gallons of water.

“Further investigation is being undertaken because of the late hour when they were observed, their curious explanation for why they wanted to see the reservoir and the fact that they were in an area marked no trespassing,” Procopio said.

No one is allowed inside Quabbin an hour after sunset.

The seven people will be summonsed to appear in Hampshire District Court on the trespassing complaint, he said.

Their names were not released, he said, citing a state police policy against releasing names of suspects who are summonsed prior to an initial court appearance.

The group of five men and two women were spotted by state police at about 12:30 Tuesday walking away from the reservoir toward two vehicles. A trooper stopped them and cited them for violating a posted no-trespassing zone.

The group told police they were recent college graduates. Some were residing in the Amherst – Northampton area, while others were from Cambridge and New York City. All said they studied chemical engineering and they came out to see the Quabbin because it was in line with their education and career interests, Procopio said.

State police determined there were no warrants, detainers or advisories against any of the seven with Interpol, the FBI’s National Crime Information Center or with any state law enforcement agencies.