State Police, Cambridge Fire Respond To Mannequin and Red Liquid Left at Weeks Bridge in Apparent Hoax

Updated February 21, 2025, at 1:01 p.m.

The Massachusetts State Police and Cambridge Fire Department pulled a mannequin from the frozen Charles River under the John W. Weeks Memorial Bridge on Thursday night after the mannequin and a large pool of red liquid were left by the bridge in an apparent hoax.

At least four MSP officers arrived at the bridge around 7:40 p.m. Thursday evening, and CFD arrived shortly after. Responders appeared to conduct a brief water search, and the officers and vehicles left the scene shortly after 8 p.m.

The MSP wrote in a statement that the State Police Boston Barracks received a 9 p.m. call reporting “what appeared to be a stabbing victim being thrown over Weeks Footbridge and falling 20 feet onto the icy Charles River.” It was not immediately clear why the time given in the MSP statement was later than the time emergency personnel responded to the bridge.

The bridge was not closed to foot traffic, even as MSP and CFD were on the scene, and the liquid was still present on the bridge the next morning.

Responders “observed a red substance in the snow, a clothed mannequin covered in the same red substance lying on the ice, and a gallon water jug on the ice nearby,” the MSP wrote.

The Crimson found remnants of at least two rubber balloons and a plastic bottle cap near the red liquid on the bridge.

The MSP condemned the apparent hoax in a statement.

“The State Police would like to remind the public that reckless behavior to stage scenes like this can create senseless fear in our communities, tie up essential resources which become unavailable for true emergencies, and pose a significant danger to first responders themselves,” they wrote.

The incident comes two days after a woman was rescued from the Charles River near MIT after sustaining serious injuries. Last week, the Boston Fire Department recovered a body after responding to a report that an individual jumped off the Massachusetts Avenue bridge.

—Staff writer Laurel M. Shugart can be reached at laurel.shugart@thecrimson.com. Follow them on X @laurelmshugart or on Threads @laurel.shugart.