Chaitra Shuklapaksha 9, Kaliyug Varsha 5115
Image Courtesy : BBC UK
The teenage suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings is in custody after being found hiding in a boat in a suburban homeowner's backyard.
Police said they exchanged gunfire with Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, after cornering him in Watertown, near Boston.
He had escaped on foot early on Friday, apparently wounded, after a police shootout that claimed the life of his elder brother, an alleged accomplice.
Three people died and more than 170 were hurt in Monday's bombings.
At a Friday night press conference, US President Barack Obama promised to seek answers on what had motivated the bombers and whether they had help.
He spoke just after state police told journalists that the suspect was being treated at a Massachusetts hospital, bleeding and seriously injured with gunshot wounds to the neck and leg.
The breakthrough came less than an hour after authorities lifted a city-wide order for residents to stay indoors, and reopened the transport system, as the trail appeared to have gone cold.
Authorities captured the suspect following a tip from a resident of Franklin Street, Watertown, who emerged from his home after the lockdown was lifted and noticed blood near the boat.
Upon opening the tarp covering the boat, the resident found a man covered in blood in the stern and called police.
Bomb-squad vans and ambulances surrounded the house, while helicopters buzzed overhead.
Officers tossed flash-bang grenades into the boat to disorient the fugitive.
Police said they exchanged gunfire with the suspect for about an hour before moving in and seizing him.
A crowd near the scene cheered as he was taken into custody.
The property was apparently not searched earlier on Friday as police went door-to-door in Watertown.
Boston Police Department tweeted: "CAPTURED!!! The hunt is over. The search is done. The terror is over. And justice has won. Suspect in custody."
Thousands of Swat team officers had earlier scoured the streets all day in a manhunt that virtually shut down the city.
Russian warning ?
Massachusetts officials had closed all mass transit and warned nearly one million people in Boston and some of its suburbs not to leave their homes.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, a college student, had fled on foot following a gun battle that left 200 spent rounds and a car chase to Watertown in which he and his brother, 26-year-old Tamerlan Tsarnaev, hurled explosives at police, authorities said.
The pair also shot and killed a Massachusetts Institute of Technology policeman late on Thursday before severely wounding another officer, authorities said.
The elder brother died of bullet wounds and injuries from explosives strapped to his body, a hospital doctor said.
Their bloody confrontation ensued hours after the FBI released images of the marathon-bombing suspects.
Law enforcement officials and family members have identified the Tsarnaev brothers as ethnic Chechens who had been living in America for about a decade.
The FBI interviewed Tamerlan Tsarnaev in 2011 after a request from a foreign government, US law enforcements officials have confirmed. But agents closed the case after finding no cause for concern.
In an interview on Russian television, the mother of the two suspects said the FBI had been in contact with her son for several years.
It is not known which country made the request, but the BBC's Paul Adams in Washington says it is likely to have come from the Russians.
'Losers'
Our correspondent says now that the manhunt in Boston is over, the extent of the FBI's prior knowledge of Tamerlan Tsarnaev's activities is likely to be examined.
Monday's twin blasts killed Martin Richard, aged eight, Krystle Campbell, 29, and Lu Lingzi, 23, a postgraduate student from China.
Earlier on Friday, the father of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev said his son was a second-year medical student in the US and was hoping to be a brain surgeon.
Anzor Tsarnaev told the BBC he believed the secret services had framed his sons.
"It was a terrorist attack carefully organised by secret services – I don't know which ones. My son used to go to a mosque, so they once paid us a visit to ask why he is doing that.
"Yes, there was such an episode. So they put all the blame on him and shot him. That's it."
But Ruslan Tsarni, an uncle of the suspects who lives in Maryland, said he was "ashamed" at his nephews' alleged role in the bombings.
Asked what the bombers' motives may have been, he replied: "Being losers, hating everyone around them."
Also on Friday, investigators removed a computer and other evidence from the New Jersey home of the Tsarnaev brothers' sister, police said.
Ailina Tsarnaeva, who lives in the town of West New York, is said to have told FBI agents she had had no contact with her brothers for some time.
Source : BBC
Updates
- Dead Boston Marathon Bomber Named as Chechen Boxer Tamerlan Tsarnaev (19 Apr 2013)
- Boston marathon attack kills 3 and injures more than 100 in 2 blasts (16 Apr 2013)
Dead Boston Marathon Bomber Named as Chechen Boxer Tamerlan Tsarnaev
April 19, 2013
Boston bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, who has been killed last night in a shootout with police at Watertown, near Boston, was a boxer with a YouTube profile which carried controversial videos of Islamic preacher Feiz Mohammad.
He is the brother of Dzhokhar, 19, who is still at large and being sought by police.
Tamerlan died overnight in the firefight with police, suffering from "blast and potentially gunshot wounds …probably a blast injury [and] possibly shrapnel" throughout his torso.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, was planning to compete for New England in the heavyweight category (IB Times UK)
A photo profile of the Boston bomber on a blog revealed that he was planning to compete for New England in the heavyweight category at the National Golden Gloves competition.
"If he wins enough fights there, Tamerlan says he could be selected for the US Olympic team and be naturalised American," reads a rather ironic caption.
"Unless his native Chechnya becomes independent, Tamerlan says he would rather compete for the United States than for Russia."
In the same interview Tamerlan said that he has given up drinking and smoking for religious motives. He said: "God said no alcohol," adding "there are no values anymore… people can't control themselves."
In another picture, he says: "I don't have a single American friend, I don't understand them."
Tamerlan was also said to have a half Portuguese, half Italian girlfriend who converted to Islam. "She's beautiful, man!" he said.
In 2010, Tamerlan beat Southern New England's Brian Daniels in the heavyweight title bout. Tsarnaev also received the Rocky Marciano Trophy given to the New England heavyweight champ, according to the Lowell Sun .
Tamerlan reportedly shared on his YouTube profile some videos of Australian Muslim preacher Mohammad, of Lebanese origin. A former boxer, Mohammad gained made the headlines in 2005 for blaming women for being rape victims.
In 2007, the Australian Federal Police investigated whether 16 DVDs of Mohammed's sermons, called the Death Series, broke laws against sedition, racial vilification, and inciting violence and terrorism. He also featured in a British documentary called Undercover Mosque.
Source : IB Times UK
Boston marathon attack kills 3 and injures more than 100 in 2 blasts
April 16, 2013
A Photo of Boston Marathon Blast (Courtesy : Telegraph UK)
- FBI takes over investigation into twin blasts at finish line
- City placed on high alert as police carry out controlled blasts
- Obama: 'The American people will say a prayer for Boston'
Boston (USA) : Two large explosions at the final stretch of the Boston Marathon killed at least three people and injured more than 100, sending a pall of smoke over the area and staining the sidewalks with blood.
The blasts took place in a crowd of spectators, just feet away from the finish line where hundreds of runners were completing the world's oldest annual marathon. Photographs showed the area along Boylston Street covered in injured people, with security guards and emergency workers scrambling to give first aid.
Witnesses said they had seen victims who had lost limbs. "There were a lot of people down," said Frank Deruyter, who was running the marathon.
The Boston Globe and the local NBC affiliate reported that an eight-year-old was among the dead. At the city's Children's Hospital a nine-year-old girl, a seven-year-old boy, a 12-year-old and another child aged two were among the injured, according to the Globe.
Two powerful devices detonated without warning at about 2.50pm ET, the Boston police commissioner Ed Davis told reporters at a media briefing. Asked whether the city was under a terrorist attack, he replied: "We're not being definitive about this right now, but you can reach your own conclusions based on what happened."
Dozens of injured people were taken to local hospitals where some remained in a critical condition on Monday evening. The Associated Press put the number of injured at more than 130.
Rescue work going on after Boston Marathon Blast (Courtesy : kval.com)
Police wearing camouflage uniforms and carrying assault rifles guarded the main entrance of Massachusetts General Hospital on Monday evening. Inside were 29 people injured in the blasts, including eight who were in a critical condition and undergoing surgery. Dr Alasdair Conn, the hospital's chief of emergency services, said at least four of them had arrived with traumatic amputations, meaning their limbs had been blown off.
President Obama, at a briefing at the White House, said: "The American people will say a prayer for Boston tonight. Michelle and I send our deepest thoughts and prayers to the families of the victims in the wake of this senseless loss."
Obama said he had spoken with the FBI director and the Department of Homeland Security, who were co-ordinating the federal response. He stopped short of using the word "terrorism" to describe the explosions but vowed to bring the perpetrators to justice.
"We will find out who did this and we will hold them accountable," he said. "Make no mistake, we will find out who did this and why they did this, and the groups or individuals responsible will feel the full weight of justice."
A White House official, speaking off the record, said the attack was being treated as an act of terrorism. But at a press conference on Monday night the FBI special agent who has taken control of the inquiry, Rick DesLauriers, said it was a "criminal investigation and potential terrorism investigation".
He refused to comment on reports that police had found a number of unexploded devices or that a "person of interest" was being treated at Brigham and Women's hospital in the city. The police commissioner flatly denied reports there was a suspect at the hospital.
Davis described the loss of life as "horrendous", adding: "This cowardly act will not be taken in stride. We will turn every rock over to find the people who are responsible for this."
The Massachusetts governor, Deval Patrick, said the city would be open on Tuesday "but it will not be business as usual".
Courtesy : ABC News
The blasts came at the climax of what should have been a day of great celebration for Boston and for marathon runners from around the world. The 26.2-mile race, which started in 1897 and is one of six World Marathon Majors, has almost 27,000 participants and attracts up to 500,000 spectators, making it a massive security operation for the local authorities.
The event takes place on Patriots' Day, a Massachusetts state holiday to mark the first battles of the revolutionary war against Britain. Monday is also "Tax Day" in the US, the deadline for individuals to file their tax returns.
After the explosions the city went into high alert. All off-duty police officers were brought back on the job and told that a maximum alert would remain indefinitely. Tests and controlled explosions were carried out on scores of parcels and backpacks that had been left strewn along the parade line in the panic that followed the blasts.
A no-fly zone was imposed in the immediate zone of the incidents and flights into local airports were suspended briefly. Boston residents and visitors to the marathon were advised to return home or stay in their hotel rooms, and to avoid congregating in public spaces. "People should be calm but they should understand this is an ongoing event," the police chief said.
'A loud boom … then glass everywhere'
Boston Marathon blast aftermath (Courtesy : The Australian)
Wounded people were taken to the medical tent that had originally been set up to treat weary runners. One of the victims included a Boston police officer seen being wheeled away from the scene with a bleeding leg. Cherie Falgoust, who was waiting for her husband to finish the race, said: "I was expecting my husband any minute. I don't know what this building is … it just blew. Just a big bomb, a loud boom, and then glass everywhere. Something hit my head. I don't know what it was. I just ducked."
Dennis Crowley, the founder of social media company Foursquare, was running in the race. He used Twitter to reassure family and friends that he was safe. His cousin witnessed the explosion and was "shaken but OK. FYI no one at mi 26 has any idea what's happening," he tweeted.
Crowley said cell phone service had been swamped by worried callers, mobile batteries were running out and runners were struggling to get through to their friends and relatives.
Doctors treating the 29 patients brought to Massachusetts General Hospital after Monday's blasts were seeing "a lot of shrapnel injuries", said Peter Fagenholz, a trauma surgeon.
Many of the most seriously wounded had sustained damage to their lower limbs, he said. Several of the patients had traumatic amputations and at least one patient had a shattered eardrum, Fagenholz said.
It was too early to say "how everybody is going to do" and a number of the patients would need repeated surgery in the coming days. Fagenholz added: "They're pretty brave, you know? It's a terrible thing and most patients' attitude is just 'Do what you have to do and try to make me better.'"
A spokesman for the White House said the administration was in contact with state and local authorities, with White House officials instructed to provide whatever assistance was necessary in the investigation and response.
Security was stepped up in New York City, with the NYPD's critical response vehicles being deployed, though it was not clear whether the move was a routine precaution or based on any specific intelligence.
In Boston there were accounts that the windows of a local restaurant were blown out. Security was stepped up in hotels and public buildings throughout the city.
Chris Cassidy, a reporter with the Boston Herald who was taking part in the marathon, said he saw two explosions, accompanied by a loud bang and then smoke rising. "I kept running and I heard behind me a loud bang. It looked like it was in a trash can or something. That one was in front of Abe and Louie's. There are people who have been hit with debris, people with bloody foreheads."
Among the injured was Dean Smith, who had been standing close to the second blast site to watch his 27-year-old son finish the race. Both he and his son suffered minor injuries. "It felt like it was right there," he told the Guardian as he left hospital on Monday night, pointing to his car two feet away. "It was really close. My wife said I flew five feet."
Smith sustained a minor shrapnel wound to his right calf. His back was also injured and both his eardrums burst, he said. His son was expected to make a full recovery, he added.
Shaan Gandhi, a medical student at Massachusetts General Hospital, said the hospital was working flat out to take care of the injured. "It's supposed to be a really happy day," he said. "It's supposed to be a really quiet day and then this all happens."
He said he had seen a patient with severe leg injuries. "We were just trying to stop the bleeding as much as possible and try to save his life," Gandhi said. "I've never seen something like this."
This year's Boston Marathon, the 177th annual race in the city, was being staged in commemoration of the Newtown school shooting, in which 20 young children and six educators were killed in December. The finishing mile was dedicated to the victims of Newtown.
Source : The Guardian UK
