The surviving suspect in the Boston Marathon bombing was in police custody as investigators continued to look for answers after a tense, day-long manhunt that locked down a major US city and captivated the nation.
"The hunt is over. The search is done. The terror is over. And
justice has won. Suspect in custody," Boston police announced on
their Twitter feed late Friday.
Cheers and hoots of relief broke out among residents in the Boston
suburb of Watertown who had been penned in their homes all day long,
staying out of harm's way. Police cars blared their sirens in
jubilation as they departed.
A resident discovered suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, in a boat in
his backyard after police had lifted a warning for residents to stay
inside, officials said at a press conference. Tsarnaev's brother, a
fellow suspect in Monday's deadly terrorist attack, was killed in a
shootout with police earlier Friday.
The resident had left his house after staying inside all day and
"saw blood on a boat in the backyard," said Boston police
commissioner Ed Davis. "He opened the tarp and saw a man covered in
blood."
The police responded to the scene, where they exchanged gunfire
with the suspect, who had likely been wounded in the earlier showdown
with police. He was later taken into custody.
Tsarnaev was in "serious condition" in hospital, Davis said.
Police had not read Tsarnaev his legal rights, which allow
suspects to remain silent to avoid self-incrimination, under an
exception to the law for national security purposes, US Attorney
Carmen Ortiz said.
The boat had not been examined by police earlier in the day
because it lay just outside the wide police perimeter they had spent
hours searching, Davis said.
"He managed to elude us by being just slightly outside the
perimeter we set up," Davis said.
Another police official however said the suspect likely "didn't go
straight to the boat."
US President Barack Obama praised the work of law enforcement and
pledged investigators would work to find answers to the attack.
"We've closed an important chapter in this tragedy," Obama said
from the White House, just over an hour after the police
announcement.
Those killed and wounded in Monday's attack "deserve answers,"
Obama said, stressing that the investigation continues. He urged
Americans not to jump to conclusions about the motives of the
suspects.
Tsarnaev had been considered armed and dangerous. He was
identified as the man in the white baseball cap in surveillance video
and photos from Monday's bombings at the Boston Marathon finish line,
where three people were killed and dozens were maimed with
amputations. All told, 176 were wounded.
His brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, identified as the man in a
black cap in the video images, died at a Boston hospital after a
firefight early Friday in Watertown. Doctors said he suffered both
gunshots and blast wounds.
Some 200 shots were fired and explosives thrown during that
showdown between police, officials said.
The shootout occurred hours after the suspects' photos were
released by the FBI, forcing the brothers "to take actions or
decisions that ultimately revealed who they were," Massachusetts
State Police Colonel Timothy Alben said at a press conference.
US President Barack Obama was briefed throughout the day and had
gathered with his national security team to follow the manhunt from
the White House situation room, a senior aide said.
Relatives of the men identified them as ethnic Chechens, who had
lived in the United States for about 10 years. US media reported the
younger brother was a naturalized US citizen.
"Turn yourself in!" Ruslan Tsarni told his nephew in comments
broadcast on television. "Ask for forgiveness from the victim and the
injured."
"He put shame on the Tsarni family, on the entire Chechen
ethnicity," Tsarni said outside his home in Montgomery Village,
Maryland, outside Washington.
"I'm ready to kneel in front of [the families and the injured],
seeking their forgiveness on behalf of my family," he said.
The series of events that ultimately brought the saga to a close
began when a police officer was fatally shot Thursday night on the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology campus in Cambridge. Sean
Collier, 26, was shot several times and died later at a nearby
hospital.
Police said the brothers then carjacked a sports utility vehicle
(SUV) that they drove to Watertown, where the firefight broke out.
The younger suspect escaped on foot, prompting police to lock down
the suburb while they searched the area.
One police officer was seriously wounded in the initial gunfight
with the suspects.
