‘Justice is done’: Police capture Boston bombing suspect
Police captured the second of two suspects in the Boston Marathon bombings Friday night to the cheers and applause of neighbors who had been pinned down during a massive manhunt that shut down much of a city already rocked this week by the deadly blasts at the nation’s oldest marathon.
“CAPTURED!!! The hunt is over. The search is done. The terror is over. And justice has won. Suspect in custody,” read a tweet from the the Boston Police Department.
Less than 10 minutes later, the department tweeted again with the names of those killed this week: “In our time of rejoicing, let us not forget the families of Martin Richard, Lingzi Lu, Krystle Campbell and Officer Sean Collier.”
The apprehension of 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev came just hours hours after a news conference in which authorities said he might have evaded their house-to-house search.
The search had been kicked off by a firefight early Friday that claimed the life of Tsarnaev’s 26-year-old brother, Tamerlan. The two are suspected of carrying pressure-cooker bombs to the finish line of the marathon, where they exploded, killing three and injuring more than 170, many of them grievously.
On Friday evening, police had lifted a shelter-at-home order that brought Boston and its environs to a standstill. But a short time later, amid sounds of gunfire, the order was reinstated for the Watertown area. Police and rescue vehicles sped to the scene, and, later, explosions were heard. Late in the evening, police leaving the scene said the suspect was in custody.
The events unfolded about half a mile away from where Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed.
Television showed police in tactical gear and armor rushing to the scene in the Watertown neighborhood. An ambulance stood at the ready. Helicopters flew overhead. After the first flurry of gunshots, at least three more shots were counted, along with several louder booms that sounded like explosions.
The activity came at the end of a tense day in Boston and its suburbs, and less than an hour after authorities announced that they were lifting their request that people stay indoors while officials searched house-to-house.
But Watertown residents were told to stay indoors.
Daniela and Richie Salerno had just headed outside to catch a breath of fresh air after a day cooped up inside their house. They got as far as the end of their driveway on Bailey Street.
“And you just heard: ba-ba-ba-ba.” Richie Salerno said, making the sound of the shots that had been fired. They ran back inside.
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