Harvard Law School placed a visiting professor on administrative leave after police say he fired a pellet rifle steps from a Boston-area synagogue as people arrived for the start of Yom Kippur.

Carlos Portugal Gouvea, 43, was arrested Wednesday night after two shots rang out near Temple Beth Zion on Beacon Street. He later told authorities he had been “hunting rats,” according to a police account cited by local outlets. Investigators said there is no indication the synagogue itself was targeted, but the gunfire triggered a heavy police response as security guards and people scrambled at the scene.

Gouvea was charged in Brookline District Court with illegally discharging a pellet gun, disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace, and malicious destruction of property after officers found a shattered car window with a pellet lodged inside, according to the police report. He pleaded not guilty at his arraignment Thursday, was released on personal recognizance, and is due back in court in early November.

Harvard Law School spokesperson Jeff Neal said Gouvea “has been placed on administrative leave as the school seeks to learn more about this matter.”

The law school has not announced additional disciplinary action.

Two private security guards stationed at Temple Beth Zion told police they heard “two loud shots” and saw a man holding a pellet rifle. When they approached, the man set the gun down, a brief struggle ensued, and he fled into a nearby residence before reemerging and being taken into custody, according to the police narrative.

Harvard has been a flashpoint in the national fight over campus antisemitism, facing political and legal pressure from Washington over whether it adequately protects Jewish and Israeli students. The university has sued to challenge federal funding freezes it says are punitive and politically motivated, even as both sides inch toward a potential settlement.

Gouvea is a Harvard Law alumnus who earned his doctorate in 2008. He also serves as an associate professor at the University of São Paulo Law School and leads a Brazilian policy institute focused on social and environmental issues. Neither he nor an attorney listed in court records responded to requests for comment from local media.

Brookline police said additional details would be released as the investigation progresses. Gouvea’s next court appearance is scheduled for November.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)