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Friday 19 April 2013

Terrifying cache of explosives found at home of Boston bombing suspects as thousands of police officers scour locked-down city for fugitive after his elder brother accomplice dies in gun battle

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Source: Daily Mail
A terrifying cache of explosives believed to belong to the suspected bombers have been found today as thousands of police officers continue to scour Boston for fugitive Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.
At least seven IEDs have been located, some in Watertown and some at the Tsarnaev family home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, police said. There were fears among officials that devices had been planted at other locations after one was reportedly discovered in the Charlesgate section of the city. The IED has been made safe.
Police and SWAT teams were seen rushing to the University of Massachusetts - Dartmouth campus where Dzhokhar is a student.  


It emerged earlier that Dzhokhar, 19, posted a chilling message on Twitter eight months ago where he wrote: ‘Boston marathon isn’t a good place to smoke'.
The message was uncovered as Boston remained on lock-down 16 hours into the manhunt for the 19-year-old terror suspect after he fled the scene of a shoot-out with police where his accomplice and older brother Tamerlan, 26, was killed.
The tweet last August appeared on the micro-blogging site from user @J_Tsar - named in multiple reports as an alias for the man behind Monday’s atrocity. He also tweeted about his intent to grow a beard and how he ‘wanted out’ of American life.
The messages suggested the level of forethought and planning that the Chechen immigrants allegedly put into the devastating attack on Boston which killed three people, including at eight-year-old boy, and left 176 injured. 
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Volatile: Police conduct a door-to-door search for 19-year-old Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev after it emerged that IEDs had been found at two addresses in Watertown and Cambridge
Volatile: Police conduct a door-to-door search for 19-year-old Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev after it emerged that IEDs had been found at two addresses in Watertown and Cambridge
Terrorists: Tamerlan Tsarnaev (right) was killed during an exchange of gunfire with police on Wednesday night. His younger brother Dzhokhar (left) is still on the run and reportedly has explosives strapped to his body
Terrorists: Tamerlan Tsarnaev (right) was killed during an exchange of gunfire with police on Wednesday night. His younger brother Dzhokhar (left) is still on the run and reportedly has explosives strapped to his body
Foreboding: The message posted on Twitter to 'Abdul' by J_Tsar last August 10 mentioned the Boston Marathon - eight months before the atrocious attack
Foreboding: The message posted on Twitter to 'Abdul' by J_Tsar last August 10 mentioned the Boston Marathon - eight months before the atrocious attack
On the move: Several different agencies including the Boston police, FBI and SWAT teams were working together
On the move: Several different agencies including the Boston police, FBI and SWAT teams were working together
Scrutiny: A man looks out of his door as a SWAT team member approaches his neighbor's house this morning. Police have warned residents to stay indoors as the terror suspect remains at large
Scrutiny: A man looks out of his door as a SWAT team member approaches his neighbor's house this morning. Police have warned residents to stay indoors as the terror suspect remains at large
Flee: Residents evacuate as police go door-to-door on Norfolk Street in search of a suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings in Cambridge
Flee: Residents evacuate as police go door-to-door on Norfolk Street in search of a suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings in Cambridge
Flee: Residents evacuate as  police go door-to-door on Norfolk Street in search of a suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings in Cambridge
No escape: Armed Boston Maritime Safety Security team members patrol the Boston Harbor on Friday
No escape: Armed Boston Maritime Safety Security team members patrol the Boston Harbor on Friday

Constant danger: Scores of police and SWAT team members were surrounding the Boston suburb on Friday morning
Constant danger: Scores of police and SWAT team members were surrounding the Boston suburb on Friday morning

The tweets added to a picture of Dzhokhar which was emerging on Friday, as a young man who had hidden his sinister intentions beneath the facade of a party-loving but dedicated student who was captain of his high school wrestling team. 
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, emerged as the FBI's 'Suspect 2' on Thursday after he was seen on CCTV wearing a white baseball cap and dropping a backpack shortly before the huge blasts.
Scores of heavily-armed police swarmed a Boston suburb today as the net tightened around the 'armed and dangerous' suspect who remained at large.
It was unclear how long the manhunt would keep Bostonians trapped in their homes as hundreds of thousands obeyed the police's order to 'shelter in place', leaving the city streets eerily deserted.
During a televised press conference on Friday, superintendent of Mass. State Police Timothy Alben said officers made door-by-door searches and had covered 60-70 per cent inside their perimeter. 
Today's stand-off followed a dramatic night in which two suspects killed MIT campus police officer Sean Collier, 26, and hurled explosives at police in a car chase and gun battle that left one of them dead and his brother on the loose. 
It is believed that Dzhokhar ran over his brother Tamerlan who had leapt from the car during the confrontation.
The terrorist, dubbed 'Suspect 1' by the FBI, was Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26. He died in hospital from gunshot wounds and possible blast injuries after a fierce gun battle in Watertown, hours after the police officer was shot dead at the nearby MIT campus.
It was revealed today Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev are legal immigrants who have been in the U.S., for around a decade. They come from the Russian region of Chechnya which has been plagued by an Islamic insurgency stemming from separatist wars.
The entire city of Boston is on lock down with residents warned to stay indoors, public transport shut down, taxi service suspended and a no-fly zone above the city. Amtrak has suspended routes between Providence, Rhode Island and New York. 
The Boston Red Sox had canceled their Friday night game along with the Boston Bruins.
Fast-moving investigation: Since pictures of the two suspects were released at 5pm on Thursday, events have rapidly unfolded in the manhunt for the terrorists
Fast-moving investigation: Since pictures of the two suspects were released at 5pm on Thursday, events have rapidly unfolded in the manhunt for the terrorists
The drama unfolded around six hours after the FBI released clear images of two men named as suspects in the Boston blast which killed two young women and an eight-year-old boy and injured 176 during the city's annual marathon on Monday. 
Just before 11pm on Thursday, the suspects approached Officer Collier from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and shot him in the head.
The two then stole a Honda CRV, robbed a nearby 7-Eleven, carjacked a Mercedes SUV and briefly kidnapped the driver before letting him go, the sources said. One brother drove away in the CRV, and the other drove away in the Mercedes.
One then ditched the CRV and reunited with his brother in the Mercedes, where they then withdrew $800 from the ATM with the carjacking victim's card.
Authorities say both suspects were in the Mercedes when they encountered police and hurled explosives at officers. Police officer Richard Donohue, 33, was seriously wounded in an exchange of gun fire.
Tamerlan reportedly had an improvised explosive device strapped to his chest when he was killed. Dzhokhar escaped by driving through a line of police officers at the end of the street. The stolen vehicle has now been recovered by investigators.
Student: Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (left) graduated from his Cambridge high school and was in college studying medicine. He is on the run after his brother Tamerlan (right) was killed after they were named terror suspects
Student: Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (left) graduated from his Cambridge high school and was in college studying medicine. He is on the run after his brother Tamerlan (right) was killed after they were named terror suspects
Student: Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (left) graduated from his Cambridge high school and was in college studying medicine. He is on the run after his brother Tamerlan (right) was killed after they were named terror suspects
High alert: State police arrest an unidentified man walking at the University of Massachusetts - Dartmouth campus during their sweep of the university on Friday
High alert: State police arrest an unidentified man walking at the University of Massachusetts - Dartmouth campus during their sweep of the university on Friday
Distress: Police take away a woman near the home of 'suspect 2' Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on Norfolk Street
Distress: Police take away a woman near the home of 'suspect 2' Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on Norfolk Street

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev posted online he will 'kill everyone because we killed his brother', according to a dispatcher in Watertown.
Explosions were heard at a Boston home this morning as police continue to hunt for a marathon bombing suspect and another possible accomplice.
Two people, one believed to be the mother of the men, have been taken into custody at the home in Cambridge where the brothers grew up but are not considered suspects. The home is surrounded by FBI and the bomb squad is on the scene.
Dzhokhar was born in Kyrgyzstan, according to NBC. His brother Tamerlan was reportedly born in Russia. The brothers are believed to have moved to America with their family in 2002 or 2003.
Door to door: FBI went to every house in the search for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev after he and his brother led police on a car chase on Thursday night
Door to door: FBI went to every house in the search for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev after he and his brother led police on a car chase on Thursday night
Stay indoors: A resident views police in tactical gear conduct a search for a suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings
Stay indoors: A resident views police in tactical gear conduct a search for a suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings
Fast-paced: SWAT teams enter a suburban neighborhood around 9am on Friday to search for the remaining suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings in Watertown, Massachusetts
Fast-paced: SWAT teams enter a suburban neighborhood around 9am on Friday to search for the remaining suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings in Watertown, Massachusetts
Escape: A neighbor is escorted to safety as police surround a home while searching for a suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings
Escape: A neighbor is escorted to safety as police surround a home while searching for a suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings
Closing in: Police run down a street in Watertown, Massachusetts on Friday screaming at members of the public and media to pull back as the hunt for terror suspect Dzhokar Tsarnaev continues
Closing in: Police run down a street in Watertown, Massachusetts on Friday screaming at members of the public and media to pull back as the hunt for terror suspect Dzhokar Tsarnaev continues
Tightening the noose: SWAT teams close in on a property in the Watertown area
Tightening the noose: SWAT teams close in on a property in the Watertown area 
Lock-down: Police patrol a neighborhood in Watertown as officers go door to door during the manhunt on Friday morning
Lock-down: Police patrol a neighborhood in Watertown as officers go door to door during the manhunt on Friday morning

The 19-year-old, who attended Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, is an amateur wrestling champion who holds a Massachusetts driving license. He is a registered student at University of Massachusetts - Dartmouth. The campus was ordered closed on Friday morning. 
The older brother Tamerlan attended Bunker Hill Community College and was studying to become an engineer but took a year off to pursue boxing. 
He traveled to Russia for six months last year. He said in an interview with a Boston University student magazine in 2010: 'I don't have a single American friend. I don't understand them.'
Tamerlan was once arrested for domestic assault on a girlfriend, ABC reported. In the hours since the Tsarnaevs have been identified as the prime suspects in the bombings, a picture has begun to emerge of the older brother as a man who felt like an outsider in the U.S. and had recently become radicalized.
The 26-year-old had a profile on YouTube channel since August 2012. Five months ago, Tamerlan created a playlist dedicated to terrorism.
Named simply ‘Terrorists,’ the playlist included a pair of videos, which are now no longer available. Although most of the clips in the channel are ordinary music videos, Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s YouTube channel shows signs that he had been drawn to radical Islamism.
Among the songs on his playlists was one called ‘I will dedicate my life to Jihad.' He also featured videos recorded by recent converts to Islam.
Fears: Onlookers take pictures as they watch from windows while SWAT team members search for one remaining suspect at a neighboring apartment building
Fears: Onlookers take pictures as they watch from windows while SWAT team members search for one remaining suspect at a neighboring apartment building
To the safety: A police officer evacuates a shoeless man holding a child as members of law enforcement keep the entire area in lock down
To the safety: A police officer evacuates a shoeless man holding a child as members of law enforcement keep the entire area in lock down
Cautious: Police from several different agencies search an apartment complex after a shootout
Cautious: Police from several different agencies search an apartment complex after a shootout

A friend of the brothers told CNN that he had known them since 2006 and they were 'normal kids' who partied and occasionally smoked. A classmate told CBS that Dzhokhar did not have an accent and that he assumed he had always lived in the U.S.
The uncle of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev urged his nephew to turn himself in. Ruslan Tsarni of Montgomery Village in Maryland, said that the 19-year-old should give himself up and ask for forgiveness. 
The father of the suspects said that his son Dzhokhar is a smart and accomplished young man. Anzor Tsarnaev spoke by telephone from the Russian city of Makhachkala on Friday.
Anzor Tsarnaev said: 'My son is a true angel. Dzhokhar is a second-year medical student in the U.S. He is such an intelligent boy. We expected him to come on holidays here.'
The father said that his sons had been framed for the bombing in Boston. 
A sister of the Boston bombing suspects is 'heartbroken and devastated' after meeting with police and FBI over her brothers' involvement in the atrocious attack, it was revealed today. Police officers of West New York, New Jersey and FBI descended on the home of the woman who is believed to be Ailina Tsarnaev just after 11am on Friday. 
Federal agents were seen removing cell phones and computers from her quiet suburban home in West New York in New Jersey. Two police trucks are being sent to her home after it was feared that Dzhokhar might try to reach her.
However police did not expect the 19-year-old suspect to arrive. Police director Michael Indri told reporters she is a young mother with a baby girl and that she had not spoken to either brother 'in years'.
The director went on to describe the siblings as 'estranged'. The reason for the falling out is unclear. Indri said to the best of his knowledge there has been no attempt by Dzhokhar to contact his sister but the FBI said it is a possibility.
The FBI are no longer at the property but her front door is being guarded by two police officers. 
Director Indri was unaware how the young woman  discovered that her brothers were the most wanted men in America but said that she ‘was co-operating fully’. 
Eerie: The pedestrian crossings in the South Station and Financial District of Boston are empty on Friday as one of the marathon bombers remained on the loose
Eerie: The pedestrian crossings in the South Station and Financial District of Boston are empty on Friday as one of the marathon bombers remained on the loose
Threat: Small signs are posted in the Boston Public Gardens while devoid of people as law enforcement urged people to 'shelter in place'
Threat: Small signs are posted in the Boston Public Gardens while devoid of people as law enforcement urged people to 'shelter in place'
Connections: A map showing the locations of the Boston Marathon bombings, the MIT campus where a police officer was shot dead and the suburb of Watertown where the gunfight broke out
Connections: A map showing the locations of the Boston Marathon bombings, the MIT campus where a police officer was shot dead and the suburb of Watertown where the gunfight broke out
On his tail: SWAT teams train their weapons toward as house from the roof of a shed as they carry out door-to-door searches for the fugitive terrorist
On his tail: SWAT teams train their weapons toward as house from the roof of a shed as they carry out door-to-door searches for the fugitive terrorist  

Dangerous operation: A bomb squad officer uses a robot to remove an item, believed to be a water bottle, from the back of the car allegedly used by the suspects
Dangerous operation: A bomb squad officer uses a robot to remove an item, believed to be a water bottle, from the back of the car allegedly used by the suspects
Heroes: MIT campus police officer Sean Collier, 26, (left) was shot dead by the fleeing terror suspects. Officer Richard Donohue, 33, (right) was injured in the exchange of gunfire but is now in a stable condition in hospital
Heroes: MIT campus police officer Sean Collier, 26, (left) was shot dead by the fleeing terror suspects. Officer Richard Donohue, 33, (right) was injured in the exchange of gunfire but is now in a stable condition in hospital
Heroes:  MIT campus police officer Sean Collier, 26, (left) was shot dead by the fleeing terror suspects. Officer Richard Donohue, 33, (right) was injured in the exchange of gunfire but is now in a stable condition in hospital
Flushing him out: SWAT teams along with Boston police flooded into suburban areas of the city during a fast and fluid investigation
Flushing him out: SWAT teams along with Boston police flooded into suburban areas of the city during a fast and fluid investigation
On the run: This image provided by the Boston Regional Intelligence Center shows Dzhokhar A Tsarnaev, one of the suspects in the Boston Marathon bombings
On the run: This image provided by the Boston Regional Intelligence Center shows Dzhokhar A Tsarnaev, one of the suspects in the Boston Marathon bombings
Swarming the streets: Dozens of armed officers check houses in the suburb of Watertown after the second suspect fled during a car chase and firefight
Swarming the streets: Dozens of armed officers check houses in the suburb of Watertown after the second suspect fled during a car chase and firefight
Is this their man? This photograph was tweeted by a resident near the shoot-out who claims it is one of the suspects fleeing on foot next to a scorch mark on the pavement
Is this their man? This photograph was tweeted by a resident near the shoot-out who claims it is one of the suspects fleeing on foot next to a scorch mark on the pavement
A doctor from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center said terror suspect Tamerlan died after suffering multiple wounds from gunshots and possibly the blast of an explosive.
'There were signs of more than just gunshot wounds, said the doctor, who did not give his name.
'A second suspect was able to flee from that car and there is an active search going on at this point in time,' Colonel Timothy Alben, superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police, told a news conference.
'What we are looking for right now is a suspect consistent with suspect No 2, the white-capped individual who was involved in Monday's bombing of the Boston Marathon,' Alben said.
Police say the two suspects discharged several explosives at police from the vehicle during the pursuit. 
According to eyewitness reports, two men believed to be in their early twenties engaged in a furious gun fight with dozens of police on a backstreet of Watertown.
Armed and ready: Police officers aim their weapons as they close in on two suspects in the Boston bombings after a university officer at MIT was shot dead on campus
Armed and ready: Police officers aim their weapons as they close in on two suspects in the Boston bombings after a university officer at MIT was shot dead on campus
Gun battle: Police officers draw weapons from behind a car during a dramatic shoot-out with two of the suspects in the Boston Marathon bombings
Gun battle: Police officers draw weapons from behind a car during a dramatic shoot-out with two of the suspects in the Boston Marathon bombings
Warning: Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis tells the media that there is a terrorist on the loose who wants to kill people and tells people not to open their doors
Warning: Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis tells the media that there is a terrorist on the loose who wants to kill people and tells people not to open their doors

TIMELINE OF TERROR: HOW EVENTS UNFOLDED IN BOSTON

THURSDAY AFTERNOON: FBI released the pictures of the bombing suspects.
MIT CAMPUS, CAMBRIDGE 10.20pm: Police received reports of shots fired on the MIT campus. 
10.30pm: An MIT campus police officer was found shot in his vehicle in the area of Vassar and Main streets. According to authorities, the officer was found with multiple gunshot wounds. He was transported to Massachusetts General Hospital and pronounced deceased. Authorities launched an immediate investigation into the circumstances of the shooting. The investigation determined that two males were involved in this shooting.

CAMBRIDGE: 11.30 pm (approx): Police received reports of an armed carjacking by two males in the area of Third Street in Cambridge. The victim was carjacked at gunpoint by two males and was kept in the car with the suspects for approximately a half hour. 

Midnight (approx) The victim was released at a gas station on Memorial Drive in Cambridge. He was not injured. 

WATERTOWN. Midnight – 1am (approx.) Police immediately began a search for the vehicle and were in pursuit of the vehicle into Watertown. At that time, explosive devices were reportedly thrown from the car by the suspects. The suspects and police also exchanged gunfire in the area of Dexter and Laurel streets. During this pursuit, an MBTA Police officer was seriously injured and transported to the hospital. During the pursuit, one suspect was critically injured and transported to the hospital where he was pronounced deceased. In Watertown, witnesses reported hearing multiple gunshots and explosions at 1am. Dozens of police officers and FBI agents were in the neighborhood and a helicopter circled overhead. 'It sounded like a stick of dynamite went off,' a local resident told the Boston Globe. 'I looked out the window, and it was like nothing I’ve ever seen – blue light after blue light after blue light. ' 

WATERTOWN 1:30am: The Cambridge bomb squad arrive in Watertown.

CURRENT: An extensive manhunt is ongoing in the Watertown area for the second suspect, who is believed to be armed and dangerous. The case is being investigated by local, state and federal authorities working in cooperation. The Massachusetts State Police Bomb Squad is assessing and removing any potentially explosive devices that may have been thrown on the street in Watertown by the suspects. The investigation remains active and ongoing.

Andrew Kitzenburg spoke to the New York Times about the view he had from his third floor window as he saw two men in jackets shooting at at least 10 police from behind a black Mercedes SUV.
The gun battle was being waged 70 yards apart and Mr. Kitzenburg said that the two men and police were engaged in 'constant gunfire'.
Suddenly a police SUV 'drove towards the shooters' and was fired upon until it was damaged and rolled to the side of the road, crashing into two cars in his driveway.
Dramatically, Mr. Kitzenburg said the two gunmen then threw a large bomb, 'They lit it, still in the middle of the gunfire, and threw it. But it went 20 yards at most.
The unknown device did explode and at that point, one of the men ran towards the gathered police officers and was tackled - it is not clear from Mr. Kitzenburg if he was shot or not.
Then suddenly, the other man returned to his SUV and drove towards police officers and 'put pedal to the metal'.
The car 'went right through the cops, broke right through and continued west.'
Mr Kitzenburg said that the two men had left backpacks by the car and that a police bomb robot was currently dealing with the devices.
Police have told all residents to remain in their homes while they clear the area.
Police screamed at reporters on the scene to turn off phones 'if they want to live' as they hunted for the suspects - fearful that improvised explosives could be remotely detonated.
The shoot-out came hours after the FBI released images and video of the Boston bombing suspects as they launched a hunt for two 'armed and extremely dangerous' men.
The images show them walking in single file toward the finishing line of the race around 13 minutes before the twin detonations.
Hours after the initial photos were made public, investigators released close-up shots this morning of the two suspects that more clearly show the men's faces.
Suspect Number One was wearing a black baseball hat, a dark hooded jacket and khaki pants. 
Suspect Number Two was wearing a white basketball cap on backwards and a dark hooded sweatshirt.
The FBI made no mention of the men's height, weight or age range and would not discuss the men's ethnicity.
'It would be inappropriate to comment on the ethnicity of the men because it could lead people down the wrong path potentially,' said FBI agent Greg Comcowich, a spokesman for the Boston FBI office.
The information on the first suspect was developed within a day or so before its release, DesLauriers said. 
Agent Daniel Curtin said the FBI did not issue the photos earlier because authorities wanted to be meticulous: 'It's important to get it right.'
And according to FBI sources who have spoken to CNN, still unreleased footage reveals that the suspects stayed at the scene to watch the devastation the two blasts created.
'When the bombs blow up, when most people are running away and victims were lying on the ground, the two suspects walk away pretty casually,' said the official to CNN, who has seen the unreleased video.
'They acted differently than everyone else,' he added. 


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