Everyone expected the perpetrators of the Boston marathon bombing to
have fled the area soon after the attack. But just hours after the
Federal Bureau of Investigation released their photos, the two suspects
were apparently tracked to Watertown, a western suburb of Boston, where
one was killed and one remains at large. One police officer is dead and
another has been badly wounded as authorities mount a massive manhunt to
find the remaining “terrorist.” The T subway line, one of the
metropolitan area’s main arteries, was shut down while thousands of
residents in the affected communities were ordered to stay home.
The dramatic events began Thursday night at about 10:30pm when a 7-Eleven minimart in Cambridge was robbed. The suspects in that robbery caught on the 7-Eleven cameras match the descriptions of Suspects 1 and 2 in the Boston marathon bombings sought by the FBI, police said. Soon after, the suspects allegedly shot and killed a Massacusetts Institute of Technology cop and carjacked a Mercedes SUV.
Police tracked the Mercedes to the Watertown neighborhood where a shootout ensued. In a dramatic scene just after midnight, dozens of police vehicles streamed out of Boston along Memorial and Storrow Drives, flanking the Charles River, west to Watertown. Police boats were in the water. In the shootout a Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority police officer was shot and is now in critical condition at Mt. Auburn hospital. Suspect 1 was killed. “During the course of that pursuit several incendiary devices were discharged from the car at the police officers,” Alben said. According to the Associated Press, doctors at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital said they treated a man with possible blast injuries and multiple gunshot wounds–though they would not confirm if this was Suspect 1.
Witnesses in Watertown reported hearing between one and three loud explosions between 12:15 a.m. and 1:00am Friday. At least one “lit up the night sky,” says Adam Healy, a behavioral specialist who lives near where the shootout took place. Others also heard 20 to 50 gunshots. “It was crazy. It was like bam bam bam bam bam,” says Shawn Bertulli, 28, who lives in Waltham but was visiting a friend in Watertown.
In the hours following the shootout, hundreds of police converged on the Watertown neighborhood, some from as far as Tewksbury, 25 miles away. Most wore flack jackets and carried flashlights. As authorities moved the press back a few blocks from where the shootout took place, an explosion could be heard. “You hear that?” a cop said to the hoard of press and onlookers. “That’s why you need to move back. It’s for your own safety.”
A 20-block area of east Watertown around Dexter, School and Laurel Streets has been locked down as police go door to door searching for Suspect #2, said Watertown Police Chief Edward Deveau. Authorities have also released an updated photo of the suspect wearing a gray hoodie sweatshirt. “The most important message that we are doing right now is for public safety and for the safety of the people in that neighborhood,” Alben said. “We are asking everyone to shelter in place for the time being, not to leave their homes and if they see something suspicious other than a police officer coming to their door they should call 911 immediately.”
Bomb squads have been called in to “make safe anything that was discharged from that vehicle,” Alben said. “Some of them went off. Some, we believe, did not.”
The suspect at large is believed to be armed and extremely dangerous. Authorities are thus far refusing to identify either of the suspects. “We believe this to be a terrorist,” Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis said. “We believe this to be a man who has come here to kill people. We need to get him into custody.”
The dramatic events began Thursday night at about 10:30pm when a 7-Eleven minimart in Cambridge was robbed. The suspects in that robbery caught on the 7-Eleven cameras match the descriptions of Suspects 1 and 2 in the Boston marathon bombings sought by the FBI, police said. Soon after, the suspects allegedly shot and killed a Massacusetts Institute of Technology cop and carjacked a Mercedes SUV.
Police tracked the Mercedes to the Watertown neighborhood where a shootout ensued. In a dramatic scene just after midnight, dozens of police vehicles streamed out of Boston along Memorial and Storrow Drives, flanking the Charles River, west to Watertown. Police boats were in the water. In the shootout a Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority police officer was shot and is now in critical condition at Mt. Auburn hospital. Suspect 1 was killed. “During the course of that pursuit several incendiary devices were discharged from the car at the police officers,” Alben said. According to the Associated Press, doctors at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital said they treated a man with possible blast injuries and multiple gunshot wounds–though they would not confirm if this was Suspect 1.
Witnesses in Watertown reported hearing between one and three loud explosions between 12:15 a.m. and 1:00am Friday. At least one “lit up the night sky,” says Adam Healy, a behavioral specialist who lives near where the shootout took place. Others also heard 20 to 50 gunshots. “It was crazy. It was like bam bam bam bam bam,” says Shawn Bertulli, 28, who lives in Waltham but was visiting a friend in Watertown.
In the hours following the shootout, hundreds of police converged on the Watertown neighborhood, some from as far as Tewksbury, 25 miles away. Most wore flack jackets and carried flashlights. As authorities moved the press back a few blocks from where the shootout took place, an explosion could be heard. “You hear that?” a cop said to the hoard of press and onlookers. “That’s why you need to move back. It’s for your own safety.”
A 20-block area of east Watertown around Dexter, School and Laurel Streets has been locked down as police go door to door searching for Suspect #2, said Watertown Police Chief Edward Deveau. Authorities have also released an updated photo of the suspect wearing a gray hoodie sweatshirt. “The most important message that we are doing right now is for public safety and for the safety of the people in that neighborhood,” Alben said. “We are asking everyone to shelter in place for the time being, not to leave their homes and if they see something suspicious other than a police officer coming to their door they should call 911 immediately.”
Bomb squads have been called in to “make safe anything that was discharged from that vehicle,” Alben said. “Some of them went off. Some, we believe, did not.”
The suspect at large is believed to be armed and extremely dangerous. Authorities are thus far refusing to identify either of the suspects. “We believe this to be a terrorist,” Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis said. “We believe this to be a man who has come here to kill people. We need to get him into custody.”
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