Monday, Patriots' Day, around 1450, two small bombs exploded near the finish line of the Marathon. That time of day, all of the elite runners are long gone, and the people crossing the finish line were amateurs. One explosion, then a second around 10 seconds later. The medical tents that always get set up at the event immediately went to work. Runners still moving toward the finish line were diverted away from the scene.
Hundreds of people were injured. You'll see galleries of photos of EMTs and police and citizens doing all they can amid smoke and blood and the twisted metal blockades that lined the street. Scores of injured people were transported to trauma centers throughout the city. Too many were catastrophic leg injuries (amputations), but surprisingly few people died of their injuries. Boston hospitals did an amazing job with the onslaught. Three people died: an eight-year-old boy, a young local woman, and a young woman from China, here to study at university.
There was no information for hours. The media released information that a third blast had occurred at the JFK Library in Dorchester, but that turned out to be an unrelated fire. Boylston was shut down, and there were hundreds of backpacks (passed out to race finishers) littering the street. All had to be searched.
The explosive devices themselves seemed to be not terribly high-tech. Pressure cookers and nails.
The media continued to release bad information. The NY Post ran a front-page story accusing a "Middle Eastern" suspect, complete with photo, but that turned out to be a teenager from Revere High who was completely innocent. He's now afraid to leave his home. Conspiracy and false-flag theories flourished.
Today, the FBI released footage of two suspects, calling them Suspect 1 and Suspect 2. (Notice they called them suspects and not persons of interest-- they'd need good evidence to refer to them as suspects.) Just a couple of somewhat unremarkable young guys wearing typical typical clothes and ball caps. FBI stated that they had footage of Suspect 2 dropping his backpack and walking away. The internet went wild, finding photos of both suspects and piecing together the actions of the two. If media accounts are correct, one of the injured people (whose photos figure prominently in photo galleries) woke up in the hospital and informed LE that he'd seen Suspect 1 drop his backpack in front of him, look him in the eye, and walk away. He was able to provide a description. The backpack exploded, taking off the man's lower legs. Now, with the two suspects' photos public, more photos emerged from the public. The worst is a very recent find, showing Suspect 2 walking away from his backpack, just behind the young boy who was killed.
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