Authorities are investigating whether the explosion at Northeastern University was staged

Federal officials are examining whether the employee who reported an explosion at Northeastern University lied to investigators and falsified the incident, law enforcement officials said Wednesday.

Officers identified inconsistencies in the employee's statement and became suspicious because his injuries did not match typical blast injuries, an investigator said.

The officials could not discuss details of the investigation publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

The Northeastern staff member claimed late Tuesday that the hard plastic briefcase exploded on the Boston campus, causing minor injuries.

A Boston Police bomb squad officer, left, and a K-9 unit officer, right, exit a building on the Northeastern University campus, Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2022. in Boston. AP

The briefcase contained a rambling note that lambasted virtual reality and also referenced Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, a law enforcement official said.

No explosive materials were found and they don't believe the package was shipped through the US Postal Service, the official added.

The person described the case as "Pelican-style," a company that makes hard-shell cases designed to protect sensitive equipment.

[They record a 17-year-old Latino who runs over a man in a wheelchair and then flees]

A spokesman for the FBI office in Boston declined to comment Wednesday, saying the investigation is "still very active."

Northeastern in a message posted on its website Wednesday said the campus was safe.

Experts seek the reasons for the explosion during the launch of a Blue Origin rocket

Sept.

13, 202200:24

"Events like the incident that took place on our Boston campus last night can create or increase anxiety for many of us," they said in a post.

"We would like to underscore what was communicated to our community last night: Multiple law enforcement agencies have determined that the campus is safe and secure."

The university opened normally for classes and other activities on Wednesday.

Counseling and other support services were made available to students, faculty, and staff.

Despite the school's assurances, many students remain concerned.

Boston Police gesture for members of the media to move away from vehicles on the Northeastern University campus. AP

“Every time I go to a class or to the cafeteria or to anything in general, people are talking about what is happening and what happened yesterday,” said student Lisbeth Martínez on Wednesday.

The package delivered to Holmes Hall detonated just after 7 p.m. Tuesday when a staff member opened it, the university said in a statement.

The staff member, a 45-year-old man, was taken to hospital with minor injuries to his hand, police said.

His name was not made public.

Boston bomb squads neutralized a second package around the city's Museum of Fine Arts, which is near the Northeastern campus.

Alex Jones ordered to pay an additional $45 million for lying about the Sandy Hook massacre

Aug. 5, 202200:22

Holmes Hall is home to the university's Immersive Media Labs, which according to its website, include technologies for the design, development and exploration of virtual worlds.

It is also home to the creative writing program and the women's, gender, and sexuality studies program.

Northeastern is a private university located in downtown Boston with about 16,000 undergraduates.

The case marks one of the first major scares in Boston since 2013, when two bombs planted near the finish line of the Boston Marathon killed three spectators and injured more than 260 people.