Jaime Ortega- Boston.
First bomb Blast.
2:55 PM Eastern time, the first bomb explosion detonated at 653 Boylston Street at the Boston Marathon on the finish line as the crowd was cheering and runners came closer to finishing the last lap of the race.
People standing by the world flags on the right side of Boylston Street at the finish line. started to panic and tried to jump the yellow fences that separate the crosswalk from the road.
A few runners fell to the grown in shock, and received immediate assistance by the Boston medical department.
Five minutes later, another bomb detonated a 100 meters from the first explosion creating another shock wave. A dust cloud from the fire blast filled the air.
Second Explosion.
Witnesses who saw the first explosion thought it came from the fourth floor or from the neighboring trash cans. But after the second blast those watching the event thought it was caused by a terrorist act.
All the windows of the buildings close to the incident were smashed into small fragments by the sound wave injuring people inside their homes. Glass fragments fell from the sky after the explosion sending the debris i all directions.
A runner in the Boston Marathon said, “At first it sounded like a cannon blast, but it felt so strong it literally blew my hat off, I assume some people had severe injuries.”
“They just started bringing people in with no limbs,” said runner Tim Davey, of Richmond, Va. He said he and his wife, Lisa, tried to keep their children’s eyes shielded from the gruesome scene inside a medical tent that had been set up to care for fatigued runners, but “they saw a lot.”
Close to the detonation, The Boston Police department found a man with his shin bone exposed and missing his left leg laying across two corpses.
An African American lady lost her arm and was immediately transported to the hospital after losing a lot of blood.
The pavement was stained in blood and dust. An 8-year-old child was also found dead.
Soon after at 4:25 pm, Eastern Time a fire, and possible explosion, was reported at the John F. Kennedy Library in Dorchester, Mass. It is being investigated for a potential connection to the blasts that went off near the finish line of the Boston Marathon on Monday just before 3 pm.
A Boston Police spokesperson told Talking Points Memo on Monday that an explosive device had gone off at the library. This information was later clarified on Twitter by BPD Public Information Bureau Chief Cheryl Fiandaca, who described the incident as “fire related.”
JFK Library.
Thus far the total of the deaths reported is three, and over 120 injuries, some which are in severe condition.
The White House was quick to react to the tragedy, and President Obama held an emergency press conference to speak about the possible outcome.
“We still do not know who did this or why, and people shouldn’t jump to conclusions before we have all the facts,” Obama told reporters. “But make no mistake, we will get to the bottom of this. We will find out who did this, we will find out why they did this. Any responsible individuals, any responsible groups, will feel the full weight of justice.”
A possible suspect is been questioned by the Federal Bureau of Investigations and the Boston Criminal Division department. The suspect is a 20-year-old Saudi Arabian national but it is unknown if this was a terrorist attack. He also suffered injuries. His affiliation with the terrorist attack is not conclusive.
“There is no suspect,” said Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis. “There are people we’re talking to.”
Professor Robert Pape.
Professor Robert Pape heads the Chicago project on security and terrorism at the University of Chicago.
He stated that if reports are true that investigators have recovered at least one unexploded bomb it could provide a critical break.
“These are the classic signs of a coordinated attack,” Pape says. “It is significant because with all the effort, especially since 9/11, to track materials that go into bomb-making, there’s an extremely good chance they’ll be able to use it. Think of it as the fingerprints from the bomb itself. Not so much the bomb-maker, but the materials, the chemicals that went into the bomb, and to trace it back to find out where the materials came from.”
The head of an extremist Jordanian Muslim Salafi group said early Tuesday that he was “happy to see the horror in America” after the explosions in Boston.
“American blood isn’t more precious than Muslim blood,” said Mohammad al-Chalabi, who was convicted in an al-Qaida-linked plot to attack U.S. and other Western diplomatic missions in Jordan in 2003.
Homeland Security however does not officially credit any Islamist extremist group to be linked to the attack.
Historically some of the worst atrocities committed on US soil have come from enemies within, and the FBI is also looking at a possible domestic threat.
One example would be Eric Rudolph, 46, who began a campaign of terror with the first of his four bombings targeting Centennial Olympic Park during the 1996 Games in Atlanta.
Thousands of spectators were gathered for a concert when Rudolph planted a pack under a bench containing three pipe bombs surrounded by nails.
Also in the past 4 years, shootings in Virginia Tech, Colorado and the most recently shooting in Connecticut could have the Department of Homeland Security looking at threats within.
Some witnesses who recorded the events captured a curious image of a mysterious man on a roof-top, walking around, looking toward the street where the incident took place. Its is unclear who that man is.
Mysterious man on roof top captures attention.
There is more to come in the next few hours, so keep updating The Daily Journalist, premier report.
