"From my friend’s window, I could see him in a pool of blood," she said.

Thayer resident Nathaniel J. Miller '14 said that people in his dorm were "shaken a little bit, but no one is too hysterical."

Mentzinger said she saw a tour group that had been in the area during the shooting taken aside to be questioned by police. Many of the individuals at the scene of the incident were crying, according to Mentzinger.

At least 10 officers were responding to the incident just after 11 a.m. on Saturday. An officer with the Cambridge Police Department said earlier this morning, at the scene of the incident, "There’s a body and he's been shot."

Memorial Church Minister Dorothy A. Austin, Dean of the College Evelynn M. Hammonds, Dean of Student Life Suzy M. Nelson, and Secretary of the Administrative Board John "Jay" L. Ellison were also present.

Officers marked off the scene of the shooting and the surrounding yard with yellow tape. Entrances to the yard were restricted, with gates on Quincy Street near Lamont Library and Loeb House closed, as well as all but one gate by the Science Center.

Most of the individuals who exited Memorial Church around 12:30 p.m. when Yom Kippur services ended were not aware that a shooting had taken place just a few feet outside of where they had been observing the holiday.

Attendees—many of whom found out about the news from inquiring reporters—said that they had not been informed of the shooting during the service. Though two police officers entered the church toward the beginning of services, there was no sense of alarm or panic, they said.