After Massive Manhunt, Boston Police Take Bombing Suspect Into Custody, Alive
The social media and traditional reports from Watertown, Boston, as police chased, and ultimately caught, a suspect linked to both the Boston Marathon blasts and a Thursday-night shooting on the MIT campus.
Update: For continuing coverage of the situation in Boston, follow the Guardian’s live updates. We will make period updates to this story over the weekend as we learn more.
After a gunfight at the MIT campus between dozens of police officers and two men armed with guns and explosives left an officer dead late Thursday night, a manhunt is underway in Watertown, Boston, where state and local authorities are searching for one of the suspects, who remains at large as of press time.
Multiple sources have linked the suspect, along with his partner, who died early Friday morning while in custody, to the Boston Marathon blast. Based on new Boston Marathon suspect photos posted to the FBI website early Friday morning, the man currently at large has largely been referred to as the “White Hat Suspect.”
One suspect dead. One at large. Armed and dangerous. White hat suspect at large.
— Edward Davis (@EdDavis3) April 19, 2013
During a press conference Friday morning, Boston Police Department Commissioner Ed Davis told members of the media, “We believe this to be a terrorist. We believe this is a person who came here to kill people.”
Massachusetts State Police are tweeting that they will be carrying out a door-to-door investigation. They’re also asking Watertown residents to stay indoors and not answer the door unless the person at the door is clearly identified as a police officer.
The Boston Police have released a photo of the man they appear to be chasing:
WANTED: Police Searching for Suspect (Picture Provided) twitter.com/Boston_Police/…
— Boston Police Dept. (@Boston_Police) April 19, 2013
Reports via 7News Boston say that classes at MIT are canceled today.
Read more about the role of Reddit in the Boston bombing and manhunt.
News reports say all public transit services in Boston have been shut down. Police speaking at a press conference have just confirmed a 20-block “lock down” area in Watertown.
List of towns where folks are told to stay indoors and businesses closed. #7news twitter.com/clamberton7/st…
— Chris Lambert (@clamberton7) April 19, 2013
The Associated Press has tweeted the name of the suspect:
BREAKING: AP: Surviving Boston bomb suspect identified as Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev, 19, of Cambridge, Mass. -SS
— The Associated Press (@AP) April 19, 2013
Boston police have released a flyer IDing the remaining suspect–Armed and dangerous:
Boston RIC has released this flier showing at large suspect Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev. He may be armed & dangerous. twitter.com/Suntimes/statu…
— Suntimes (@Suntimes) April 19, 2013
At a press event, Boston Police have noted that the “shelter in place” requirement–that the public stay indoors, with doors locked and only answer the door to police–has been extended across all of Boston.
Authorities have seemingly confirmed the identity of both suspects, brothers Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. Dzhokhar is the suspect being sought. Tamerlan died during the gun battle overnight. Site Deadspin.com has a roundup post of everything that is apparently known about this 26-year-old man. It isn’t much, and “most of it’s derived from a photo gallery.”
Boston Police has tweeted that all taxi service is suspended in Boston.
The FBI has released a new photo of the chief suspect Dzhokar Tsarnaev:
FBI releases new image of the suspect. twitter.com/BuzzFeedAndrew…
— Andrew Kaczynski (@BuzzFeedAndrew) April 19, 2013
TheAtlanticWire has a roundup post on what may be publicly known about Dzhokar Tsarnaev.
A statement from University of Massachusetts Dartmouth notes that a person being sought in connection with the ongoing manhunt is a student there. It is not clear if this is Tsarnaev or a different person. The campus is now closed and staff and students are being evacuated.
UMass Dartmouth is closed and is in the process of a controlled evacuation of the campus. Students, staff and faculty have been asked to leave campus in a calm and orderly fashion. This action is in response to information that the person being sought in connection with the Boston Marathon bombing is a registered student. State, local, and campus police are on campus to assist with the evacuation and to conduct a full investigation
A CNN report points to what the outlet claims is the suspect’s Twitter account, @J_Tsar, citing “two friends of his” as its sources.
Here’s our CNN story on “Jahar” as he calls himself on Twitter. The suspect has tweeted since the bombing. bit.ly/11lHG4F
— Christine Romans (@ChristineRomans) April 19, 2013
The Twitter account in question, below, was active up until 1:30 p.m. on April 17.
@mellochamp and they what “god hates dead people?” Or victims of tragedies? Lol those people are cooked
— Jahar (@J_tsar) April 16, 2013
The Boston Police Department has announced, per state police, that law enforcement will conduct a controlled explosion in Cambridge later today:
#CommunityAlert: Per State Police – expect a controlled explosion later in the day on Norfolk Street in Cambridge.
— Boston Police Dept. (@Boston_Police) April 19, 2013
As of 5 p.m. Friday afternoon, the city of Boston remains under lockdown, per law enforcement’s instructions. For continuing coverage of the situation in Boston, follow the Guardian’s live updates. We will make period updates to this story over the weekend as we learn more.
UPDATE 8:45PM FRIDAY: BOSTON POLICE SAY THE SUSPECT HAS BEEN TAKEN INTO CUSTODY.
Christina Chaey contributed reporting.
[Image: Flickr user The Bay Area’s News Station]
