explosions at marathon

[flyingelvii]

Counterterrorism officials found what they believe to be five additional, undetonated explosive devices around the Boston area, according to two people briefed on the rapidly moving investigation.

The devices—which are in addition to the two that exploded near the finish line of the marathon—were discovered over the course of a frantic inspection of suspicious packages, many of them abandoned as pedestrians, runners, and others scrambled away from crowded public streets. Each had been rendered inoperative or was in the process of being rendered inoperative, the officials said.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... 14148.html


A lot of people are pointing to that kid with the visa

There's a lot of conflicting information going in terms of the undetonated stuff. I've heard 5 from the WSJ and 0 from MSNBC but more like 2 or 3 from the local people, which seem to be more and more reliable. The national places have been all over the place while the local media has generally been doing a solid job.

[DuchesneEast]

Counterterrorism officials found what they believe to be five additional, undetonated explosive devices around the Boston area, according to two people briefed on the rapidly moving investigation.

The devices—which are in addition to the two that exploded near the finish line of the marathon—were discovered over the course of a frantic inspection of suspicious packages, many of them abandoned as pedestrians, runners, and others scrambled away from crowded public streets. Each had been rendered inoperative or was in the process of being rendered inoperative, the officials said.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... 14148.html


A lot of people are pointing to that kid with the visa

There's a lot of conflicting information going in terms of the undetonated stuff. I've heard 5 from the WSJ and 0 from MSNBC but more like 2 or 3 from the local people, which seem to be more and more reliable. The national places have been all over the place while the local media has generally been doing a solid job.

Sounds like Newtown.

[Mosi]

been watching this non stop since around 6, 3 dead, 125 + injured... thank god the feds are in charge that way we have a chance to put down the pieces of shit who did this I dont care if its a McVeigh wanna be.. some ragheads or some fucking computer nerds (big protest the other day about the MIT kid who took himeelf out of the game before the trial was about to start)

1) they are picking ball bearings out of people
2) bombs were placed in trash cans to get maximum damage
3) AN EIGHT YEAR OLD GIRL DIED

I personally would be glad to pull the switch to fry these motherfuckers, no matter who they are

[DavidGordonsFoot]

If they really found undetonated devices, I hope they use them to execute the guilty Man-on-Fire style.

[TontoKowalski]

Trash can bombs, ball bearings, no plastique or c4 means this is a couple of assholes making explosives out of ammonium nitrate or fertilizer in small enough quantities that their purchases weren't flagged and their landlords/RAs didn't notice. Probably even set from timers, not cell phones. Could have been chemically ignited if there really is a suspect covered in burns.

Feds can't find these guys soon enough.

[angrychicken]

Strange, but ESPN seems to have the best coverage of this.

[flyingelvii]

Jack Williams and WBZ are doing a bangup job for locals in Boston. And I agree with the ESPN stuff. Bob Ley is doing a fantastic job and certainly better than the hacks over at CNN.

[flyingelvii]

Counterterrorism officials found what they believe to be five additional, undetonated explosive devices around the Boston area, according to two people briefed on the rapidly moving investigation.

The devices—which are in addition to the two that exploded near the finish line of the marathon—were discovered over the course of a frantic inspection of suspicious packages, many of them abandoned as pedestrians, runners, and others scrambled away from crowded public streets. Each had been rendered inoperative or was in the process of being rendered inoperative, the officials said.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... 14148.html


A lot of people are pointing to that kid with the visa

There's a lot of conflicting information going in terms of the undetonated stuff. I've heard 5 from the WSJ and 0 from MSNBC but more like 2 or 3 from the local people, which seem to be more and more reliable. The national places have been all over the place while the local media has generally been doing a solid job.

Sounds like Newtown.

Yeah it's comical (really fucking horrible word choice but I'm too fucked up over this to change it) to hear the Post throwing out scoops, what with all their local contacts within the community.

Apparently there's a bunch of shit going down at an apartment in Revere. A lot of different authorities hanging out there.

[dtwalrus]

FWIW, there is no source out there coming close to reddit.com in covering this.

The latest thread: http://www.reddit.com/r/inthenews/comme ... /?sort=new

[PhillyandBCEagles]

Hope all you EOers are safe out there.

My guess is AQ-inspired lone wolf. Boston has something like 250 universities, several of which are world-famous, and there are LOTS of Arab, Pakistani, etc. students studying at those universities. A guy I casually knew at BC (not an Islamist as far as I could tell, but didn't know him all that well) was a son of a Saudi prince or something. More to the point, a lot of these students are undergrads or grad students in engineering majors at BU, Harvard, MIT, etc.

Most people who aren't from Boston or haven't lived there (in the city itself or the immediate surrounding area, not just somewhere in New England), in my experience, don't know how big of a deal marathon day is there. Whoever did this has lived in Boston for at least a year, IMO.

The guy supposedly in custody is a 20-year-old Saudi. This all fits together. My guess is he's a college student, probably studying engineering or something similar, no previous experience with jihad, feels alienated in the US, either was already radicalized before he came here or became radicalized since out of his feelings of alienation, has learned enough in his engineering classes to set up the bombs but not enough to fully carry them out the way he wanted to (multiple unexploded devices, good possibility the two that did go off were meant to go off in the reverse order).

[Brooklyneagle]

FWIW, Israeli Independence Day (April 15-16) started last night at sundown. My wife represented the U.S. here (in Geneva) last night at the Israeli reception. As I dropped her off, thought crossed my mind, of course, that the celebration could be a target. It was not too long after she returned home that news started to come in (right here on this site) of the explosions.

[HJS]

Trash can bombs, ball bearings, no plastique or c4 means this is a couple of assholes making explosives out of ammonium nitrate or fertilizer in small enough quantities that their purchases weren't flagged and their landlords/RAs didn't notice. Probably even set from timers, not cell phones. Could have been chemically ignited if there really is a suspect covered in burns.

Feds can't find these guys soon enough.

This attack reminds me of the attacks that go on in Israeli cafes all the effing time. The backpack piece reminds of the London bus bombings and Madrid train bombings.

The weird part here's that officials are completely clueless. I mean... in a town where they were able to identify a med student killer of a call girl within an hour, you'd think that there would be more than enough video of this guy.

[b0mberMan]

Just worth checking in that everyone and everyone they know/care about is safe.

Was watching the race out at the top of Heartbreak Hill. Ended up walking back to Southie. I was amazed at how fast officials were able to get runners off of the route. Walking along Beacon St., all of a sudden the course was empty. They had them centralized at a few key places, BC being one of them. Kudos on the school for helping to take care of runners stranded along the course yesterday.

As I got past Coolidge Corner, I started passing runners who just turned around and started walking home. Looked like some people had finished, others didn't. I know that people two miles down the road were dealing with much worse, but man, that would be no fun to have to do after running that far.

I had to cut around Fenway and walked over to Huntington. Saw an armored SWAT vehicle with police in Kevlar with assault rifles riding on the outside go by. Police, fire and ambulances were driving in every direction at that point. They had evacuated a building at Northeastern and the fire dept. was going in. Apparently a suspicious package call that turned out to be false. I'd imagine there were a few of those reported yesterday -including the St. Ignacious one. That was not true at all as it was just an area police and officials were congregating to help stranded runners. Nothing was found or searched for.

Still hearing a lot of sirens out my window in Andrew Sq. I got up early this AM to drive my girlfriend to the airport and Logan was oddly calm outside. I thought there would be a larger police presence in the drop off areas but nothing as of yet. I think they had cleared the area a few hours after the incident yesterday and I know they had flights out late last night. I'd imagine the security line is tight.

Reading the stories in the Globe, looking at the images - pretty gruesome. I'd like to think we'll be back to normal today, but I'm sure this is going to take awhile. I take early comfort in the fact that places like NYC and DC and Atlanta have had to face similar and/or worse attacks (NYC - much worse) than this and have bounced back. Just never really think its going to take place where you are, I guess.

[HJS]

.

[claver2010]

Most people who aren't from Boston or haven't lived there (in the city itself or the immediate surrounding area, not just somewhere in New England), in my experience, don't know how big of a deal marathon day is there. Whoever did this has lived in Boston for at least a year, IMO.

I'd agree with this. I'm not from the area and I had no idea what Patriots Day meant outside of an awesome athletic feat (and an excuse to drink outside) but after living here for 7 years I started to appreciate it.

It was pretty much status quo on the ride in, there was a cop on the train and Park St had a police presence but nothing crazy


Also crazy my first marathon monday was the VT shooting incident.

[HJS]

The kid was Martin Richard from Dorchester. His dad, William, was running. His mother and sister are critically injured (mom has injuries to her brain and his sister has last a leg). I rewd elsewhere that another sister seems to have escaped harm.
http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/16/us/boston ... ?hpt=hp_c2

[DomingoOrtiz]

Most people who aren't from Boston or haven't lived there (in the city itself or the immediate surrounding area, not just somewhere in New England), in my experience, don't know how big of a deal marathon day is there. Whoever did this has lived in Boston for at least a year, IMO.

I'd agree with this. I'm not from the area and I had no idea what Patriots Day meant outside (and an excuse to drink outside) but after living here for 7 years I started to appreciate it.

It was pretty much status quo on the ride in, there was a cop on the train and Park St had a police presence but nothing crazy


Also crazy my first marathon Monday was the VT shooting incident.

Lots of cops around the city this morning and a bunch of police boats patrolling the harbor. I avoided the O'Neil tunnel.
FWIW, a Statie a know told me yesterday at 6:30pm that they found two unexploded bombs under the grandstands.

[HJS]

From the briefing... they don't have the slightest clue. They have no suspects or motivation. There are also were no other unexploded devices found.

[TontoKowalski]

So... the only known devices were the two that exploded? News yesterday reported a controlled explosion and other found, undetonated devices. What about the Saudi national in custody? Was that for real or just something that got thrown out there?

Not sure a responsibility claim will be forthcoming, given the composition of the victims.

[eepstein0]

From the briefing... they don't have the slightest clue. They have no suspects or motivation. There are also were no other unexploded devices found.

I think they're not telling you a lot of information, nor should they. We'll find whoever it is, rest assured.

[flyingelvii]

From the briefing... they don't have the slightest clue. They have no suspects or motivation. There are also were no other unexploded devices found.

I think they're not telling you a lot of information, nor should they. We'll find whoever it is, rest assured.

Yeah somebody asked about it and the FBI guy basically said they can neither confirm nor deny that they have anybody in custody. Basically they're trying to prevent the whole Richard Jewell thing from Atlanta happening all over again. But once they do name names, I imagine it'll be pretty rock solid.

[commavegarage]

theyre definitely withholding a ton of information. there was an additional controlled explosion yesterday reported by pretty much everybody

[Endless Mike]

My office is nearby, on Arlington Street. I had taken the day off to go to a Marathon party in Brookline, so I was nowhere nearby when it happened.

We were tailgating outside along Beacon Street and cheering on the runners. Another group of tailgaters from the building had set up a big screen TV on the lawn so everyone could watch the Red Sox game. There were army guys marching the marathon with full backpacks, many of them carrying flags. I noticed a few running by me on the sidewalk, one of them yelling something on his walkie talkie. I didn't think much of it, because a lot of the army guys had people walking with them to cheer them on, so I thought maybe they were coordinating that.

Not long after that we cleaned the tailgate up and went inside. My girlfriend and I were going to head back to her place in Brookline, and her friends were going to head downtown. Then someone got a text about explosions at the finish line and we turned on the TV. We spent the net 4+ hours watching the news.

A year ago my office with on Boylston, at the next block. Last year I couldn't take Marathon Monday off because of a big meeting so I was there, and in the afternoon I'd gone over to check out the finish line and hang around near the bleachers.

[cvilleagle]

So... the only known devices were the two that exploded? News yesterday reported a controlled explosion and other found, undetonated devices. What about the Saudi national in custody? Was that for real or just something that got thrown out there?

Not sure a responsibility claim will be forthcoming, given the composition of the victims.

The whole "Saudi national in custody" could end up being something or it could be nothing. From the reports I read, essentially there was a Saudi national at the scene, injured, that was seen running away. This was viewed as suspicious, and someone tackled him. He was then questioned at the hospital.

Maybe he was involved, maybe he was running away because a freaking bomb just went off.

[Endless Mike]

BC students organizing a gathering to finish the marathon this Friday:

http://www.bcinterruption.com/2013/4/16/4230192/boston-marathon-bombings-boston-college-community

[DomingoOrtiz]

So... the only known devices were the two that exploded? News yesterday reported a controlled explosion and other found, undetonated devices. What about the Saudi national in custody? Was that for real or just something that got thrown out there?

Not sure a responsibility claim will be forthcoming, given the composition of the victims.

The whole "Saudi national in custody" could end up being something or it could be nothing. From the reports I read, essentially there was a Saudi national at the scene, injured, that was seen running away. This was viewed as suspicious, and someone tackled him. He was then questioned at the hospital.

Maybe he was involved, maybe he was running away because a freaking bomb just went off.

My $ is on a domestic nut. I saw a video of this "hooded man" on a girl's iPhone yesterday: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/nationa ... -1.1317947

[flyingelvii]

So... the only known devices were the two that exploded? News yesterday reported a controlled explosion and other found, undetonated devices. What about the Saudi national in custody? Was that for real or just something that got thrown out there?

Not sure a responsibility claim will be forthcoming, given the composition of the victims.

The whole "Saudi national in custody" could end up being something or it could be nothing. From the reports I read, essentially there was a Saudi national at the scene, injured, that was seen running away. This was viewed as suspicious, and someone tackled him. He was then questioned at the hospital.

Maybe he was involved, maybe he was running away because a freaking bomb just went off.

He (or his roommate) apparently gave consent to search his apartment and his roommate was talking to reporters shortly thereafter so my guess is it's much ado about nothing.

[eagle9903]

My office is nearby, on Arlington Street. I had taken the day off to go to a Marathon party in Brookline, so I was nowhere nearby when it happened.

We were tailgating outside along Beacon Street and cheering on the runners. Another group of tailgaters from the building had set up a big screen TV on the lawn so everyone could watch the Red Sox game. There were army guys marching the marathon with full backpacks, many of them carrying flags. I noticed a few running by me on the sidewalk, one of them yelling something on his walkie talkie. I didn't think much of it, because a lot of the army guys had people walking with them to cheer them on, so I thought maybe they were coordinating that.

Not long after that we cleaned the tailgate up and went inside. My girlfriend and I were going to head back to her place in Brookline, and her friends were going to head downtown. Then someone got a text about explosions at the finish line and we turned on the TV. We spent the net 4+ hours watching the news.

A year ago my office with on Boylston, at the next block. Last year I couldn't take Marathon Monday off because of a big meeting so I was there, and in the afternoon I'd gone over to check out the finish line and hang around near the bleachers.

that is scary, I am glad you are all right.

[BCMurt09]

So... the only known devices were the two that exploded? News yesterday reported a controlled explosion and other found, undetonated devices. What about the Saudi national in custody? Was that for real or just something that got thrown out there?

Not sure a responsibility claim will be forthcoming, given the composition of the victims.

The whole "Saudi national in custody" could end up being something or it could be nothing. From the reports I read, essentially there was a Saudi national at the scene, injured, that was seen running away. This was viewed as suspicious, and someone tackled him. He was then questioned at the hospital.

Maybe he was involved, maybe he was running away because a freaking bomb just went off.

My $ is on a domestic nut. I saw a video of this "hooded man" on a girl's iPhone yesterday: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/nationa ... -1.1317947

This just doesn't feel like international, Islamic terrorism. My money is on a domestic nutcase as well, but of course you're going to peg the Saudi national here on a student visa running away from the scene.

I think there were two bombs that went off, that we see in all the videos, a third that was found and they controlled detonated. My sense is that these "other devices" they've been finding are backpacks, bags, etc. that people dropped in the confusion and Boston EOD decided to blow in place rather than find out if they're actually bombs. Can't blame them.

Do we know any more about the JFK Library bomb? Last I heard it wasn't related and then I thought I saw something that said it was.

[RegalBCeagle]

Just found out a family member of some friends of ours lost a leg but is now stable. This whole thing makes me sick. Gotta believe there will be footage/pictures of the perpetrator(s). This is a reminder that our vigilance can never waver.