7:01 am.
Reports are that one suspect, the man who wore the back ball cap in the photos, is dead after shootout with police in Watertown, Mass. The other man, who wore the white hat, has been identified by the Associated Press as Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev, a 19 year old, of Cambridge, Mass. This individual is still at large. AP claims he is from the Chechnya region in Russia and have been in the US for at least a year. Other reports simply state they came from the Balkans, generally. The suspects allegedly threw bombs at police during a car chase while they fled in a stolen car from Cambridge to Watertown.
CBS reporting that the two male suspects are brothers. Currently police are searching a wide area in Watertown for the missing suspect per CBS.
MIT police officer killed in Cambridge. MBTA officer shot in Watertown and is in critical condition.
Update [2013-4-19 7:16:45 by Steven D]: ABC reporting bombing suspects used grenades against police. Boston area schools closed today as are many local universities including MIT, Boston University, Emerson, etc. Watertown residents advised to remain sheltered in their homes.
Update [2013-4-19 7:28:35 by Steven D]: CBS reports that State Department records identified individuals, who were in the US legally allegedly. CBS reporting (per Justice Dept. source) that FBI waited to release pictures, but ultimately decided to release the pictures publicly yesterday in order to “force their hand.”
Be advised to take all this information with a grain of salt in view of much of the misinformation that has been reported over the last few days.
Update [2013-4-19 7:56:48 by Steven D]: Press conference “imminent” per CBS. May want to get to your TV.
CBS reports that older brother ( the one reported dead) is Tamerian or Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26 years old.
Presser started. Boston residents now advised to stay in homes. That’s all they said that was new. Other cities and towns on “lock down” includes Watertown, Newton, Waltham, Belmont, Cambridge, and Allston-Brighton. Watertown is focus of search for surviving suspect.
Update [2013-4-19 8:16:11 by Steven D]: Friend of brothers interviewed by CBS. Said brothers have been here longer than 1 year, and that he went to high school with younger one as recently as 2011. Said he thought they were “normal” guys and he was shocked to hear they were involved. Older brother was allegedly a boxer and younger one a wrestler.
Update [2013-4-19 8:19:40 by Steven D]: See Oui’s comment and link to report that contradicts that the brothers came from region near Chechnya.
Update [2013-4-19 8:31:52 by Steven D]: Here is link to Oui’s diary which includes information that younger brother attended Cambridge Rindge and Latin School on scholarship.
RT News (h/t Oui) says the brothers immigrated to US two years ago. Alleged uncle of suspects interviewed by CBS Boston says younger nephew first came to US in 2000-2001 which contradicts other reports. Says he is shocked. Says he doesn’t know older brother well. Last saw brothers in 2005 or 2009 (?). Uncle mentions they spoke to him about Islam at last meeting. A little vague. Seems distressed. Says older brother was “loser” and deserved to die. Says parents of suspects currently reside in Russia.
Update [2013-4-19 8:41:28 by Steven D]: Law enforcement (SWAT) has surrounded house in Waterdown, including an armored vehicle (from CBS Boston video).
NBC reporting (Pete Williams) that a third family member may be involved. Not sure who is his source for that statement other than generic “law enforcement.”
Update [2013-4-19 8:54:4 by Steven D]: CBS Boston reports that police evacuating neighborhood in Cambridge where brothers lived. Also the CBS Boston reporter said police took two people into custody, at least one who appeared to be a female.
Update [2013-4-19 9:12:29 by Steven D]: Mother Jones found You Tube video allegedly posted by Tamerlan Tsarnaev (the dead suspect) “extolling an extremist religious prophecy associated with Al Qaeda …” The prophecy is associated with end time apocalyptic beliefs:
Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the 26 year-old brother of the second Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, had a YouTube page where he posted religious videos, including a video of Feiz Mohammad, a fundamentalist Australian Muslim preacher who rails against the evils of Harry Potter. Among those videos is one dedicated to the prophecy of the Black Banners of Khurasan which is embraced by Islamic extremists—particularly Al Qaeda. The videos posted on what appears to be Tsarnaev’s YouTube page may shed light on the motivations for the attack on the Boston Marathon. The prophecy states that an invincible army will come from the region of “Khurasan,” a large portion of territory in central Asia.
“This is a major hadith (reported saying of the prophet Muhammad) that jihadis use, it is essentially an end-time prophecy,” says Aaron Zelin, a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy “This is definitely important in Al Qaeda’s ideology.”
Update [2013-4-19 9:35:14 by Steven D]: I have some errands to run so please consider this an open thread. If you find relevant links or information please post them in the comments.
Update [2013-4-19 11:0:48 by BooMan]: Sister of suspects identified, talks to press through crack in door.
