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[UPDATE] 176 Wounded By Boston Marathon Blasts, 8-Year-Old Among Dead
By
John Del Signore
Published Apr 16, 2013
Modified Apr 16, 2013
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By
John Del Signore
Published Apr 16, 2013
Modified Apr 16, 2013
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[UPDATE ON CASUALTIES BELOW] The 8-year-old boy who was killed in an explosion near the finish line of the Boston Marathon yesterday has been identified as Martin Richard, a Dorchester resident who was watching the finish with his mother and sister, who were also seriously injured. Martin's father is a community leader in the Ashmont section of Dorchester. "They are beloved by this community,” City Councilor at Large Ayanna Pressley tells the Boston Globe. "They contribute in many ways. That’s why you see this outpouring. It’s surreal, it’s tragic."
CNN reports that the tally of people injured soared last night to more than 150, with three fatalities total. One terrorism expert told CNN that doctors were “pulling ball-bearings out of people in the emergency room.” In addition to the two bombs that exploded, investigators found two other devices that did not go off. This morning, Governor Deval Patrick announced that no unexploded devices were found. One of the bombs that exploded is believed to have been hidden in a garbage can. They’re most likely improvised,” the terrorism expert said. “They were designed to kill people. They weren’t designed to bring down buildings.”
Mile 26 of the race was dedicated to victims of the massacre of Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, and several runners from Newtown participated in the race. Relatives of adults and children killed in the Sandy Hook massacre were guests at the finish line tent, near where the bombing occurred.
Adding credence to an earlier Associated Press report, the Boston Globe reports that, "Authorities blocked cell phone service to the area to prevent any other device from being detonated by phone, leaving thousands of athletes and spectators unable to call loved ones to make sure they were okay."
The FBI is has taken over the investigation and is holding a press conference this morning. There are currently no suspects in custody. Last night and into this morning investigators searched an apartment in Revere, Massachusetts, and removed items, but officials have no comment yet about the search. The NY Post reported that a Saudi national was being "grilled" in a Boston hospital by law enforcement officials. Now the Boston Globe reports:
The person questioned in the hospital was a Saudi national, who was reportedly tackled and held by a bystander after he was seen running from near the scene of the explosion, said a law enforcement source who spoke with someone involved in the FBI’s investigation.
The Saudi man, believed to be a university student in Boston, is cooperating with the FBI and told agents that he was not involved in the explosions, and that he ran only because he was frightened. Investigators did not characterize the man as a suspect. No one had been arrested or charged by late Monday night.
An unidentified White House official tells the Boston Globe, "Any event with multiple explosive devices, as this appears to be, is clearly an act of terror, and will be approached as an act of terror. We don’t yet know who carried out this attack, and a thorough investigation will have to determine whether it was planned and carried out by a terrorist group, foreign or domestic.”
Explosives expert Jimmie Oxley says electronic timers or remote detonation devices
were most likely used in the attack, and it would have not have taken very much explosive ingredients to create blasts of this magnitude. “A couple of pounds of smokeless powder put into a pipe bomb would do it,” Oxley tells the Daily News, adding that "devices like the ones used in Boston could be made for $100 with instructions found on YouTube."
Update 10:21 a.m.: At a press conference this morning, Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis announced that 176 people were injured, with 17 in critical condition. Davis called it the "most complex crime scene in the history of our department."
Tagged
boston marathon
boston marathon explosions
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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