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Boston Marathon Bombs Were Pressure Cookers Packed With Nails And Ball Bearings
By
Jen Chung
Published Apr 16, 2013
Modified Apr 16, 2013
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By
Jen Chung
Published Apr 16, 2013
Modified Apr 16, 2013
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Several outlets are reporting that the bombs that killed three and injured over 176 others at the Boston Maraton were made from pressure cookers.
CBS News spoke to a law enforcement official who said "that one of the explosive devices appears to have been placed in a metal pressure cooker (a metal kitchen pot with a locked down top) which had been placed in a black nylon bag or backpack. Investigators also found pieces of an electronic circuit board possibly indicating a timer was used in the detonation of the bomb."
The AP reports, "A person who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigation was still going on, tells the AP that the explosives were put in 6-liter pressure cookers, placed in black duffel bags and left on the ground. They were packed with shrapnel, the person said." Dr. George Velmahos, chief of trauma surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital, had said victims had "10, 20, 30, 40 pieces of shrapnel"—which were like small balls or nails stripped of their heads—"embedded in their bodies, mostly in their legs, but as high up as their necks."
Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-Massachusetts) says the ball-like shrapnel were ball bearings, "This is not a device like Oklahoma City. That was to bring the building down. The ball bearings are meant as antipersonnel munitions. They’re trying to cause carnage here."
It's still unclear what detonated the devices, but a Fox News source said "the style of the device used closely resembles that commonly seen in Afghanistan and Pakistan... The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said a pressure cooker was attached to a wooden board in at least one of the blasts," adding that the device, inside a "black nylon backpack," was put into a garbage can. Notably, in 2010, Faisal Shahzad placed a pressure cooker bomb in Times Square; it failed.
Still, a FBI investigator told Fox News, "I don't think the use of pressure cookers points to any particular group or individual who may be responsible."
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boston marathon
boston marathon explosions
fatal bomb
pressure cooker
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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