How string of events involving Tsarnaev brothers unfolded (regarding the MIT cop)

[Tx4obama]

Excerpt below is from page 2 of the article.

-snip-

Just after 10:30 p.m. Thursday, the pair walked up to a parked police car at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where Sean Collier, a 26-year-old campus officer, was nearing the end of his 3-to-11 p.m. shift.

A security camera would later show two men approaching the car and speaking to the officer. Abruptly, one of the men was seen pulling a gun and shooting Collier multiple times, including once in the head. Some officers concluded that the shooting was an effort to provoke a larger confrontation with police.

“They were looking to start something,” one official said.

Collier was found in his car by other police and taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. By then, the Tsarnaevs had moved on.

-snip-

Full article here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/how-string-of-events-involving-tsarnaev-brothers-unfolded/2013/04/19/629d19c6-a929-11e2-8302-3c7e0ea97057_story_1.html

That answers 'one' of many of the questions I have.

[Voice for Peace]

1. I've read very little about the security cop.. he was a young man

[elleng]

2. Answers a lot of questions for me.

Thanks, Tx4.

[Bolo Boffin]

3. So there was no thought of escape in their mind.

It was "watch the world burn."

At least, that's how I'd interpret these actions.

[TeamPooka]

24. Now I'm even more amazed that #2 was taken alive without a death by cop/suicide action. nt

[texanwitch]

4. I wonder why they approached the officer, you would think the two would have stayed low.

We may never know.

[nobodyspecial]

5. They knew they were f*cked

and wanted to go out in a blaze of glory. What's weird to me is that they didn't kill the driver of the vehicle they carjacked because civilians, not cops, were the target of the first attack. Has that driver done any interviews yet?

[Tx4obama]

8. They told the man they carjacked they were the bombers, so ...

... so maybe the didn't kill him so that he would call the cops and tell them what vehicle they were in.

Could be part of their plan to get all the cops in the streets so they could throw those grenades at them.

[TeamPooka]

25. I think you are correct.

[texanwitch]

10. That is what I have been wondering.

All I heard is that they drove around and let the driver go.

Why didn't they take the car and get away, keep the driver for a hostage.

I haven't seen a picture of the car or the driver.

I haven't seen a close up of the boat, it should be full of holes.

[pinboy3niner]

14. Collier may have called them over to check them out

That possibility seems at least as reasonable as--and maybe moreso than--the notion that they wanted to "start something."

[warrior1]

6. Why did they take money out of the bank then

[pinboy3niner]

18. Good question

Seems at odds with the idea that they were trying to start something that would end it.

[HiPointDem]

20. yeah, it doesn't make sense.

[global1]

7. So They Have The Shooting On Camera.....

they should know which one - Black Hat or White Hat - actually shot this MIT cop.

[FarCenter]

11. They are equally guilty of his murder -- doesn't matter who pulled the trigger.

[FarCenter]

9. Not persuasive on a couple of points

“They were looking to start something,” one official said. That is a very weak and unpersuasive motive for the initial attack on Collier at MIT. Another theory is that they assassinated him in order to acquire his weapons and ammunition. The most persuasive is that they were doing something, he came by and made an inquiry, they walked over, he became suspicious and they killed him.

Possibly they were attempting to enter an MIT building, possibly with the intent of setting bombs or doing a hostage taking.

This relates to the question of when they had the pressure cooker bombs and pipe bombs used in the later Watertown shootout. They are unlikely to have had them in backpacks when they approached Collier's car. Were they on the grounds in the bushes at that point? Did they have them when they carjacked the Mercedes SUV? Did they pick them up somewhere during their roaming around stopping at ATMs? Did they pick them up after they released SUV driver?

[texanwitch]

12. Lots of good questions.

If you start thinking about this, is just gets more stange.

[FarCenter]

16. Not sure where Collier was attacked, but I think it was adjacent to the Stata Center

This is the fairly famous building designed by Frank Ghery and includes important labs.

[grasswire]

13. a fellow skyped with MSNBC during the firefight.

It was right outside his window. He saw the whole thing -- the shooting, the throwing of the pressure cooker, the driving over the brother, etc.. There were backpacks discarded on the ground right outside his apartment. Robots went through the stuff, and went through the car they had abandoned. Alex somebody. He was an excellent citizen reporter. A bullet went through the apartment wall. His three room mates were on the floor, but he bravely continued with MSNBC.

[texanwitch]

15. Either they wanted to die or didn't think they would get caught to begin with.

I heard today the younger brother went to back to school the next few days.

There wasn't any major planning going on with these two.

[Gore1FL]

19. They probably thought they got away with it. n/t

[HiPointDem]

21. then why would they approach a cop type & kill him for no reason? it doesn't make sense.

[Gore1FL]

23. It was apparent at that point that they had not.

Until their pictures were released, they had no way of knowing anyone was on their trail. They were playing it normal--perhaps hoping to do another. It's hard to know. I would think they would have left the country if they thought they'd get caught. If they wanted suicide, they could have been with the bombs when they went off.

Obviously, I have no proof, but I hypothesize they intended not to get caught. When that came crashing down around them, they freaked out, perhaps going into "you'll never take me alive" mode.

[HiPointDem]

26. apparent that they had not what? so far as i can tell from reports, shooting that guy was what

caused them to be caught.

the younger went back to school -- where was he staying during that time, & where was his brother? i thought i read the younger had quit school by that time?

it's very confusing & doesn't make sense.

[arcane1]

30. As of now, I think they may have had a phase II planned, but were panicked when they got caught

I wouldn't be surprised if they thought they would never get caught.

[arcane1]

29. Agreed. "Looking to start something" is pure conjecture, unless the surviving one admits to it n/t

[Cha]

17. Assholes! the carjacked guy was

lucky. I wrote that before I read the rest of the link where the Mass State Police Spokesman said the same.

Seems like this part is a good reason for requesting people to stay home..

Just after midnight, police responding to the crime spree spotted the Mercedes and gave chase. The SUV tore through the nearly empty streets of Watertown with as many as a dozen police cars in pursuit. The officers had to dodge homemade bombs hurled from the speeding Mercedes.

And, this answers some questions from last night..

Officers found the Mercedes abandoned and quickly sealed off neighborhoods in Watertown as they began a street-by-street search for the suspect. But police acknowledged later that there were not enough officers to establish a solid perimeter and that the suspect, who may have been wounded, had escaped.

thanks Tx

[HiPointDem]

22. did any of those homemade bombs go off? i never heard.

[Tx4obama]

27. Don't quote me on this but...

I think I read that three exploded in the streets when they were tossing them at the cops, two didn't go off, and one was found later in the car.

[global1]

28. Was This The Hijacked Car Or The Bombers Car?...

If it was the hijacked car when did they find the time to transfer these bombs?

[treestar]

31. Maybe Collier told them he thought they were the bombers

The photos of them were out already.

Don't know, it's odd they would approach a cop and shoot him three days later. Maybe they were going to set another bomb.