Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. Image courtesy of the FBI
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the 19 year old suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings which injured more than 130 people, is in custody after being found hiding in a boat in a suburban homeowner’s backyard.
Tsarnaev was the focus of a 22 hour manhunt involving the Boston Police, the FBI, and other state and federal authorities after events on Thursday evening led to the death of his brother who was described by authorities as Suspect #1.
The manhunt had gone cold after police had gone door-to-door of each property in Watertown where the suspect was presumed to have hidden. However, after authorities lifted a city-wide order for residents to stay indoors and re-opened the transport system a resident in Franklin Street, Watertown noticed blood near his tarpaulin-covered boat in his backyard. Upon opening the tarpaulin, the resident found a man covered in blood and called police suspecting it to be Tsarnaev.
Police cars, bomb squad vans, and ambulances then surrounded the house with helicopters watching the scene from above. The police tossed “flash-bang” grenades to disorientate the suspect, before exchanging gunfire for nearly an hour before moving in and apprehending him. He was then taken to hospital, reportedly bleeding and seriously injured from gunshot wounds to his leg and neck.
Following the capture, a crowd cheered and the police tweeted:
CAPTURED!!! The hunt is over. The search is done. The terror is over. And justice has won. Suspect in custody.
— Boston Police Dept. (@bostonpolice) April 20, 2013
With the manhunt over, the world are now looking for answers as to why the sons of Chechen refugees who had lived in the US for the last decade would attempt such an attack on innocent civilians in the US.
Speaking after the capture, President Obama said:
“There are still many unanswered questions”
