Chaos reigned last night and the early hours of this morning as police chased two men identified by the FBI as the possible bombers in the horrific Boston Marathon bombing earlier in the week. By the time the chase ended, an MIT campus police officer was dead, a transit officer was seriously wounded, one suspect was dead and the other remained at large, triggering a virtual shut down of all mass transit in the Boston area. One report indicates the the dead suspect had a suicide explosive pack strapped to himself and during the pursuit explosives were thrown from the vehicle stolen by the suspects. One can only wonder what motivates individuals to seek to kill and maim those they do not even know. Obviously, if the perpetrators of the horror turn out to have foreign connections, Teabagistan will go berserk. Here are highlights from the Boston Globe coverage:
A night of chaos gripped a region already rattled by bombings Monday at the Boston Marathon. An MIT police officer was shot and killed about 10:30 p.m. Thursday, and, not long after, a Transit Police officer was seriously wounded in a firefight.
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.’’
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.
According to Alben, the night’s outbreak of violence began when police received reports of a robbery of a convenience store in Kendall Square near MIT. A few minutes later, an MIT police officer, who has not been identified, was shot multiple times while in his cruiser at Main and Vassar streets, near Building 32, better known as the renowned the Stata Center on the MIT campus. The officer was pronounced dead at Massachusetts General Hospital.
During the gunfight, the man known as Marathon suspect #1 was wounded and was taken into custody. This morning, Dr. Richard Wolfe said the man was brought to the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center emergency room around 1:10 a.m. with multiple traumatic injuries. “It was more than gunshot wounds,’’ Wolfe told reporters around 5:30 a.m. today. “It was a combination of injuries. We believe a combination of of blasts, multiple gunshot wounds.’” Wolfe said it looked like the man had been hurt by an “explosive device’’ and that the man was struck by “shrapnel.’’ The man was pronounced dead at 1:35 a.m. The hospital said they did not know his name.
At present, the surviving suspect remains at large. We can only hope that he is captured without more people losing their lives. Likewise, we can hope that we find out who else, if anyone, may have been involved.
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