[Breaking News] Explosions at Boston Marathon

[Hotfoot]

NBC News

Witnesses: 2 explosions heard near finish line of Boston Marathon
By Erin McClam, Staff Writer, NBC News
Two explosions went off near the finish line of the Boston Marathon on Monday, witnesses told NBC News.
Video from the finish line showed screams and an enormous cloud of white smoke, and about 20 seconds between the blasts. The Associated Press reported that bloody spectators were being carried to a medical tent that had been set up to care for tired runners.
Jackie Bruno, a reporter for New England Cable News, said on Twitter that she saw people’s legs blown off.
“Runners were coming in and saw unspeakable horror,” she said.
NBC affiliate WHDH said that storefront windows nearby were blown out.
Will Ritter, the spokesman for a Massachusetts Senate candidate, told NBC News that he heard what sounded like two explosions and saw smoke rising near the Boston Public Library. He said that he saw three fire engines and police running to the site.
“We heard two really large explosions in rapid succession, about a second apart from each other,” Ritter said. “Everybody kind of ducked and hit the ground.”
Janet Wu, a reporter for WHDH, told NBC News that she heard two loud explosions. A witness told WHDH that it sounded like cannon fire.
Massachusetts General Hospital said that it had two patients and was expecting more.
The AP reported that runners and race organizers were crying as they fled the scene.
The Boston police bomb squad was en route. Boston police confirmed there was an incident but did not immediately give details. Police, fire and medical technicians were responding. New England Cable News reported that the emergency response came within seconds.
Federal authorities told NBC News that they had no immediate information.

Information is currently scattered and incoming, expect wild speculation for the next 24 hours until more is actually known. My thoughts go out to the victims and their families.

[LadyTevar]

Update from MSN:

A third, undetonated device was found near the finish line, a House Homeland Security Committee official and three law enforcement officials told NBC News.
The injury count from area hospitals exceeded that initially given by the police. Massachusetts General Hospital said that it had 19 patients, and Tufts Medical Center said it had nine.

[frigidmagi]

This is horrid but could have been alot worse. Two big booms right in session is not a textbook way of doing it. A longer delay between the two would have resulted in higher causalities. Thank God that third one was a dud.

[B4UTRUST]

The timeline so far from ABC

5:22 pm ET: Federal law enforcement officials are treating incident as a “terrorist attack.”
4:58 pm ET: No one has taken responsibility for attack, says Commissioner Ed Davis.
4:55 pm ET: There was also a controlled explosion on Boylston St., not one of the three incidents, says Commissioner Ed Davis.
4:53 pm ET: Police ask anyone with knowledge of attacks to call 1-800-494-TIPS
4:51 pm ET: Determined there was a third incident at JFK Library around 4:20 p.m. Not certain if incidents are related, but treating them as if they are, says Davis. There are no known injuries from that event.
4:50 pm ET: Two explosions, 50 to 100 yards apart at the finish line at 2:50 p.m. “All victims have been removed from scene,” Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis said at a news conference.
4:49 pm ET: New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg says security increased throughout that city.
4:48 pm ET: Massachusetts authorities confirm at least 68 patients transported to area hospitals.
4:41 pm ET: Boston Police are asking the public to turn over any video of the finish line explosion.
4:38 pm ET: “There is no sign of any radiological material involved in the explosion,” a federal source tells ABC News.
4:35 pm ET: Two more explosive devices have been found near the scene of the explosion, according to the Associated Press.
4:34 pm ET: Some 400 Massachusetts National Guard soldiers were on the scene for the marathon.
4:24 pm ET: A Federal law enforcement authority confirms to ABC News this was an intentional bombing, using small portable explosive devices.
4:21 pm ET: Boston police confirm they have found three more suspicious devices. One has been rendered safe.
4:13 pm ET: The FAA has issued a temporary flight restriction over the area of the explosion.
4:11 pm ET: Boston Fire Department to brief media at 4:30 p.m. at Westin Hotel.
4:09 pm ET: Tufts Medical Center confirms that 9 victims have been taken there.
4:06 pm ET: Law enforcement authorities tell ABC News they are testing smoke and materials at the scene for chemical substances.
4:05 pm ET: Boston police confirm at least 22 injured, 2 dead.
4:03 pm ET: Police to search hundreds of bags left at scene by marathon participants.
4:02 pm ET: “The president has been notified of the incident in Boston,” a White House official tells ABC News. “His administration is in contact with state and local authorities. He directed his administration to provide whatever assistance is necessary in the investigation and response.”
3:55 pm ET: Police set off controlled explosion in Boston. Third explosion heard.
3:54 pm ET: Marathon’s website tracking runners who completed the race, here
3:43 pm ET: Trauma nurse tells ABC News that the race’s medical tent has become a makeshift morgue. Dealing with injuries including severed limbs and children with severe burns.
3:41 pm ET: Eyewitness Hayden Cary describes a “hectic, crazy scene.” Heard explosion go off within seconds of each other near a car, steps from finish line.
3:34 pm ET: Police bomb squads sweep area looking for suspicious packages.
3:29 pm ET: Massachusetts General Hospital confirms at least 4 injured taken there.

3:25 pm ET: Police warning people in area to avoid trash cans.
3:15 pm ET: Boston Police Department says two explosions on Boyleston street near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. Police, fire and bomb squad responding. The number of injuries is unknown. The cause is unknown.
The two explosions took place around 2:56 pm, within second of each other. The first runners in the marathon crossed the finish line around noon.

[Josh]

Nobody's claiming credit yet, from what I've seen. So it's down to the manhunt now.

[General Havoc]

Nobody's claiming credit yet, from what I've seen. So it's down to the manhunt now.

If they can find the guys who did Lockerbie, they'll find this cunt.

[Josh]

Nobody's claiming credit yet, from what I've seen. So it's down to the manhunt now.

If they can find the guys who did Lockerbie, they'll find this cunt.

Maybe not in a timely fashion, though. Took them a good while to catch the Beltway Snipers, and they were operating continually up until they were caught.

Just depends on who and what we're dealing with here.

[General Havoc]

Nobody's claiming credit yet, from what I've seen. So it's down to the manhunt now.

If they can find the guys who did Lockerbie, they'll find this cunt.

Maybe not in a timely fashion, though. Took them a good while to catch the Beltway Snipers, and they were operating continually up until they were caught.

Just depends on who and what we're dealing with here.

Timely or not, they were nevertheless find them. And then we will see what we see.

[Josh]

Two people identified by the FBI, not listed as suspects as yet.

Here's hoping they're on the track.

[Hotfoot]

Latest update, one suspect is dead, the other has been captured alive following a massive manhunt and several shootouts with the police. Precise details are still being nailed down, but last night an MIT Patrol Officer was shot dead, starting a running firefight that involved the suspects throwing explosives at the police. The Boston area has been locked down while BPD rolled out a massive manhunt to track down the second suspect. Several confrontations and reports of gunfire later, the suspect was apprehended in Watertown, a Boston suburb.

Both suspects were students from Chechnya, but beyond that, no real motivation for the attack is clear at the moment. Since one of them was captured alive, I'm sure we'll hear all about it from him, but I'd be shocked if any major organization was behind this one. When the shit hit the fan, these two were on their own. This reeks of personal motivation in some fashion, but time will tell. Hopefully, this is the end of it, and we can get back to picking up the pieces.

I'm going to just put out here that this guy, even if he's not guilty of the bombing which he almost certainly is, will never see a day outside a prison again the rest of his natural life, not after that stunt. If he is found guilty of the bombing, he's going to have to be in solitary forever if they expect to see him finish his sentence, and even that isn't certain.

[frigidmagi]

You shot a cop and toss explosives at them, it's a wonder you get taken alive.

That's not an accusation towards the cop. Bluntly, if a dude killed one of my friends or coworkers and throwing around bombs, I wouldn't be trying very hard to keep him alive either.

[Dark Silver]

May he rot in a dark dank hole for the rest of his days.

His brother got off easy - relatively.

[frigidmagi]

More details.

Police have nabbed the 19-year-old suspected Boston Marathon bomber, after a day-long manhunt that completely shut down the city of Boston and several suburbs and left one police officer dead. Some Bostonians flooded into the streets cheered the news, celebrating an end to five days of fear since the bombs wounded more than 175 people and killed three.

An ambulance arrived at the scene to take the wounded suspect, Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev, to a hospital. Massachusetts State Police Col. Timothy Alben said he is in serious condition.

Tsarnaev was found in a boat in the yard of a home on Franklin Street, close to where he and his older brother engaged in a shootout with police nearly 24 hours earlier. The homeowner discovered Tsarnaev when he saw blood on the outside of his boat and then lifted the tarp to find a person, covered in blood, inside. Police used a heat-detecting device on a helicopter to find out that he was still inside, and exchanged gun fire with the suspect for the next hour, before he was apprehended.

Watertown residents--finally able to leave their homes around 8:45 p.m.--broke into cheers and applauded police officers after word spread that the suspect was in custody.

"We're so grateful to bring justice and closure to this case," Alben said at a 9:30 p.m. press conference. "We're exhausted ... but we have a victory here tonight." Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis said he could find no explanation for the "savagery" of the attacks, but that the capture made him proud to be a Boston police officer.

"We've closed an important chapter in this tragedy," President Barack Obama said in brief remarks at the White House Friday night, noting there were still many unanswered questions about the Tsarnaevs' actions.

"Whatever they thought they could ultimately achieve, they failed," Obama said. Americans, he said, "refuse to be terrorized."

Just a few hours earlier, at 6:00 p.m ET, police announced that the 19-year-old suspected bomber had eluded capture after fleeing from police on foot early Friday morning.

Thousands of law enforcement officers conducted a nearly 24-hour door-to-door manhunt for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who is suspected of helping his brother plant two bombs near the finish line at Monday's Boston Marathon that wounded more than 170 people and left three dead.

Officials announced at 6:00 p.m. news conference that they had been unable to apprehend the suspect, despite combing through a 20-block area of the Boston suburb of Watertown and shutting down the city's entire public transportation system in an effort to prevent him from fleeing. They said they did not know if he had a car, or if he was still on foot. The home where Tsarnaev was eventually discovered was outside the 20-block perimeter, and had not been searched.

Gov. Deval Patrick lifted his previous "shelter in place," or lockdown, order for the city of Boston and many surrounding areas of the city at 6:00 p.m.. But Patrick urged Bostonians to continue to be "vigilant" as the "very dangerous" armed suspect has not been apprehended.

An overnight police chase and shootout left Dzhokhar's 26-year-old brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev dead and Dzhokhar on the lam.

Federal investigators had released photos and videos of the two men hours earlier, showing them in the vicinity of the marathon finish line before the twin explosions. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was seen placing a backpack on the ground minutes before the blast, investigators said.

One MIT police officer was killed and another transit police officer seriously wounded during the violent spree. The city of Boston and its surrounding areas ground to a standstill for hours as police went door to door searching for the suspect in the suburb of Watertown.

Police said they had uncovered several improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in Watertown and in the brothers' home in Cambridge.

Tsarnaev is a student at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth. The Tsarnaev family is originally from Chechnya, a volatile and once war-torn southern Russian republic. The family fled to Kyrgyzstan and eventually immigrated to the United States as refugees about 10 years ago.

Authorities gave no indication of what they might believe the brothers' motivations could have been in the crime.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the dead suspect, studied at a local community college and was a Golden Gloves boxer. He also reportedly had a wife and young child. The FBI questioned him two years ago at the request of the Russian government, but found nothing suspicious, according to the AP.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who was remembered by former classmates as bright and personable, posted links to pro-Chechnyan independence sites on his social media page, and listed his "world view" as Islam.

Tsarnaev appeared to be posting to his Twitter account even after the marathon attacks, writing in his last post on Wednesday, "I'm a stress free kind of guy." His posts covered everything from cute photos of his cat to rap lyrics.
In an interview with The New York Times, the suspects' father said Tamerlan had been unable to become a U.S. citizen because he was arrested for hitting his girlfriend, and that he traveled to Russia last year to live for six months and renew his passport. Dzhokhar is a naturalized U.S. citizen.

The suspects' uncle, when told that one of his nephews was killed by the local CBS News station Friday afternoon, replied that he deserved it.

“He deserved his. He absolutely deserved his,” Ruslan Tsarni said. “They do not deserve to live on this earth.”
Later, in an emotional press conference outside his home in Maryland, Tsarni said his nephews had brought shame upon his family, and called them "losers." He speculated that they were not "able to settle themselves" and were "angry at everyone who was able to." He said he did not believe they were motivated by radical politics in Chechnya or religion.

He added that he hadn't been in touch with the family for several years but would not say why. Other family members, including an aunt and the brothers' father, said they did not believe the brothers could have planted bombs.

The University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth announced shortly after 10:30 a.m. on Friday that they were evacuating the entire campus after learning Tsarnaev is a registered student there. The suspect reportedly attended a party there on Wednesday night, two days after the bombing.

Earlier, at sunrise Friday, Gov. Patrick ordered a shutdown of all public transit and for residents in the city of Boston and on its edges to stay indoors. Amtrak also shut down all trains between Boston and New York.

Boston and the surrounding areas of Watertown, Waltham, Belmont, Cambridge, Newton, Allston and Brighton were placed on lockdown for most of Friday. A no-fly zone was declared over Watertown. The city of Boston was eerily quiet for much of the day, the city's busy intersections totally abandoned.

The mayhem began at approximately 10:20 p.m. Thursday in Cambridge when police said the bombing suspects shot and killed an MIT campus officer, Sean Collier, 26. Davis said that Collier was "assassinated" by the suspects while sitting in his cruiser. The terror suspects then carjacked a Mercedes-Benz SUV with the driver inside and fled, eventually letting the driver go unharmed.

The suspects were then spotted in Watertown, where federal agents swarmed in. At approximately 3:30 a.m., Massachusetts State

Police issued a plea on Twitter for residents of Watertown to lock their doors and not open them for anyone, as dozens of police officers, many of them off duty, searched backyards and exteriors of houses there, and a police perimeter of several blocks was established.

Worried residents were also told to turn off their cell phones out of fear that they could trigger improvised explosive devices.

The suspects exchanged dozens of rounds of gunfire with patrol officers, and lobbed IEDs out of their vehicle, injuring several officers.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev was shot by police and brought to Beth Israel Medical Center. He arrived at the hospital under cardiac arrest with multiple gunshot wounds and blast-like injuries to his chest. The second suspect fled on foot.
A transit police officer, Richard H. Donohue, was seriously wounded during the exchange of gunfire, officials said.
K9 units and SWAT teams searched homes on Spruce Street as officers with a police robot searched an SUV that the suspects had abandoned. Multiple devices were left in the road and two handguns were recovered, according to police scanners.

"We believe this to be a terrorist," said Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis, of Tsarnaev. "We believe this to be a man who has come here to kill people. We need to get him into custody."

[Related: FBI releases photos of suspects in Boston Marathon bombings]
Police in Watertown, Newton, Brighton and Cambridge were put on high alert. "Units use caution," an officer said. "He might have an explosive object on his person."

Police were able to track down images of the suspects after a victim of the attacks, Jeff Bauman, came to them with a description, Bloomberg reported Thursday. Bauman's legs were torn apart by the bomb.

I'm not terribly sympathetic to the boys in question, I don't know what pressures they felt or why they believed they had to do this but they did it (supposely) and on top of that they engaged in a firefight with the cops. Not only did they kill a man just trying to do his duty but they endangered scores of others, both police and civilian for no good reason. When the cops know who you are and where you are, unless you have one hell of an escape plan... You're done. Turn yourself in so at least you're not resisting arrest. Because they will chase you and they will find you.

I do feel sorry for the uncle. Imagine finding out your family did this, he must have felt deeply betrayed.

[Josh]

Unfortunately the chaos this caused, complete with a lockdown of Boston for most of the day, pretty much guarantees we'll see copycats.

Glad they caught the little fucker, though.

[General Havoc]

Chechnya... oh boy...

I've never been able to get the images and stories from the Belsan attrocity out of my head. This is not that, of course, by any stretch but still, for some it's going to raise many specters.

Myself included.