Boston (AP) — Several Boston area colleges have canceled classes for the day while police conduct a massive manhunt for a suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology announced that classes have been cancelled and employees will be allowed to stay home from work Friday following the fatal shooting of a campus officer by the marathon suspects.

Boston University on its website announced that classes have been cancelled Friday and urged students to stay inside during the ongoing search and monitor news developments. One of the three people killed in Monday's explosions near the marathon finish line was a BU graduate student.

Harvard University announced that it is closed "due to public safety concerns."

Emerson College and Boston College also cancelled classes.