Israel Matzav

One Marathon terrorist dead, another on the run

The Marathon terror suspect on the left is now dead after shooting at and throwing explosives at police. The suspect on the right is still at large and residents of six Massachusetts towns - including the one in which I grew up - have been told to stay indoors.

State authorities also asked people who live in Watertown, Waltham, Newton, Belmont, Cambridge, and Allston-Brighton to stay home and for businesses in those cities and towns to stay closed.

“We are asking you to stay indoors, to stay in your homes for the time being,’’ Kurt Schwartz, who leads the state’s homeland security department, said at a 6 a.m. press conference today. “We are asking business in those areas to cooperate and not open today until we can provide further guidance.’’

The announcement left people stranded at MBTA stops and stations across eastern Massachusetts.

“People at bus or subway stations, we are asking them to go home,’’ Schwartz said. “We do not want people congregating and waiting for the system to come back on.’’

...

The other Boston Marathon bombing suspect, the man seen wearing a black hat in photos released Thursday evening, is dead after firing bullets and launching explosives at police.

“We believe these are the same individuals that were responsible for the bombing Monday at the Marathon,’’ State Police Colonel Timothy Alben said today. “We believe that they are responsible for the death of an MIT police officer and the shooting of an MBTA police officer. This is a very serious situation that we are dealing with.’’

It was not known when the MBTA service will resume.

“We have an emergency. We cannot proceed until we take care of that emergency,” Transit Police Lt. Manes Cadet said in a harried phone interview.

Boston Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis this morning said the man now known as Marathon bombing Suspect #2 -- seen in photos released Thursday wearing a white baseball cap -- is the person being sought by a massive collection of federal, state, and municipal police.

He is believed to be the suspect who actually dropped the bombs at the race finish line
“We believe this to be a terrorist,’’ Davis told reporters about 4:30 a.m. today. “We believe this to be a man here to kill people.”

Police are warning residents in East Watertown to stay in their homes, and not to answer the door unless they see a uniformed police officer outside. They said drivers should not stop in the area roughly bounded by Dexter, Laurel, and Arsenal streets.

 Developing....

UPDATE 2:03 PM 

The AP has identified the live suspect as Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev, 19, of Cambridge, Mass. The dead suspect is apparently his brother.

UPDATE 2:04 PM

 CNN just confirmed that they're Chechen.... Muslims?

Labels: Boston, Boston Marathon, Islamic terrorism

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 1:35 PM