Surviving Bomber Suspect: now they're saying he has tongue damage -

[LiberalElite]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/21/us-usa-explosions-boston-shooting-idUSBRE93I0GQ20130421


Reuters) - Federal prosecutors prepared criminal charges on Sunday against the 19-year-old suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings who was seriously wounded, unable to speak, and under heavy guard at a city hospital two days after his dramatic capture.

Investigators could not interview Dzhokhar Tsarnaev as they searched for clues to what may have driven him and his brother, ethnic Chechens who came to the United States 10 years ago, to plant the bombs, and whether anyone else was involved.

[Tx4obama]

1. a federal law enforcement source says SIDE of the NECK, see below

-snip-

Tsarnaev, 19, remains in serious but stable condition with a gunshot wound to the side of the neck, a federal law enforcement source with knowledge of the investigation told CNN on Sunday.

-snip-

http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/21/us/boston-attack/index.html

[LiberalElite]

4. Did you even glance at the Reuters link?

I'm not playing dueling informants here but this is cut & pasted from the Reuters story:

"Tsarnaev was shot in the throat, U.S. Senator Dan Coats, a member of the Intelligence Committee, told ABC. A source close to the investigation told Reuters he had tongue damage."

Some of this will have to be taken with a grain of salt. We just have to figure out which part. Maybe next we'll be told the bullet ricocheted off his tonsils and lodged in a wisdom tooth. Who knows?

[Tx4obama]

8. I replied to you on the link below

in Comment #35 here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=461992

[LiberalElite]

12. ok

[Warpy]

2. Well, he's also still intubated

and will be for another day or two until the localized swelling reduces. They really won't know what he's got left until he comes out of it.

[LiberalElite]

5. I would have expected they'd note what's left of him before they intubated him. eom

[Warpy]

9. They did that during surgery and he was intubated then

When a person is intubated at the scene, as he was, they don't bother to check anything but whether or not they got the tube in the right place and the airway is protected.

I'm always amazed at the skill level of EMTs in the field who can intubate the most mangled trauma victims.

[DonViejo]

3. Boston Marathon suspect may never be able to be questioned, mayor says

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014461831

and

BOSTON (CBS) — Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the Boston Marathon bombings suspect captured alive Friday, may have tried to commit suicide before he was apprehended, according to CBS News.

Tsarnaev suffered at least two bullet wounds — including one to his neck — before he was arrested in Watertown, CBS News security analyst John Miller said Saturday night.

The bullet wound to the neck, which has an exit wound in the back of the 19-year-old’s neck, “is very possibly a suicide attempt,” said Miller, a former assistant director at the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Miller also said the neck wound is the primary reason why Tsarnaev is unable to speak with investigators, who are hoping to interrogate the suspect to find out, among other factors, whether he and his older brother acted alone in the bombing attack on the Boston Marathon.

-snip-

Read more: http://boston.cbslocal.com/2013/04/20/cbs-news-dzhokhar-tsarnaev-may-have-attempted-suicide-before-capture/

[LiberalElite]

7. neck, throat, tongue whatever -

I really don't get this. Short of death or permanent coma, why can't they expect to eventually be able to question him and have him write or type the answers?

[DonViejo]

11. From the first link I provided you with:

Dan Coats, a Republican member of the Senate intelligence committee, told ABC: "The information that we have is that there was a shot to the throat. It doesn't mean he can't communicate, but right now I think he's in a condition where we can't get any information from him at all.

[freshwest]

6. That fits in with a suicide attempt. His angle failed, fortunately.

[gateley]

10. I heard someone suggest that on (probably) MSNBC --

that the bullet may have exited his neck.

Other than the tongue, they're not telling us if he's conscious or not.

I would think they'll have to say something soon -- maybe when they file charges?

[freshwest]

13. Last I read on DU, he's still under sedation with a breathing tube. They didn't say where in his

neck the bullet exited - could have destroyed part of his throat, along with his jaw.

The picture I saw him on the gurney only had blood on his face - but some of the most essential large veins are in the neck going from heart to head. He may need more surgery.

It's said there was another wound - I don't know where. The arrest photo when they turned him over, cuffed him and pulled up his shirt showed no blood on his torso or pants, but they had to look to see if he had explosives taped to his body.

There is no telling how serious he was, and they couldn't take a chance either of the brothers wouldn't kill more people by committing a suicide bombing.

If you saw the interview with his uncle here, it seems there may still be hope for this young man to make something of himself - but unlikely out of custody. He says he will help him come to grips with what he did.

Tragic story for everyone, but most of all for the victims of the bombing and the shootings. It appears this is not so much a 'terrorist' act as one of malice.