April 15th, 2013 was a day when thousands of runners would’ve celebrated as they ran Boston’s annual marathon; Instead, it was a day of loss, destruction, and pain. On this day, two brothers, Tamerlan and Dzhokar Tsarnaev, set off two explosives near the finish line of the marathon, injuring over 500 people and killing three. The Boston Marathon started as it always did, held on Patriots’ Day in honor of the battle of Lexington and Concord. A stretched 26-mile route with over 26,000 runners participating. Around 5 hours in, about half a block from the finish line, the first bomb went off. About 12 seconds later, about 600 feet away, the second bomb went off. Both bombs created a crime scene that covered about 15 square blocks. It was a scene of chaos.
The source of the explosion was blended in with the crowd. They found the devices were hidden in backpacks placed among the crowd. The devices were homemade; they were built within a household pressure cooker packed with explosive substances, nails, and ball bearings. This was a powerful attack made with the intention to harm. In the following hours of the attacks, police asked for any photos or videos before, during, and after the event. It wasn’t until three days after the incident on April 18th that the FBI asked the public for any information and released pixelated images of two possible suspects. They deemed them “White Hat” and “Black Hat.” That same day, around 10:30 pm, police officer Sean Collier of MIT was fatally shot while he was on patrol. At 11:20 pm, an SUV was hijacked in the Allston neighborhood. The owner was held hostage in the car with the hijackers for about an hour as they drove around. The following morning, April 19th at 12:19 am, the hijackers stopped at a gas station where the victim managed to flee. He called 911, where he then told the police he believed his captors may have been the ones at fault for the bombing.
Around 12:41 am, the police were able to locate the car through the vehicle’s anti-theft GPS. A Watertown officer then responded to the call and spotted the vehicle. As the officer was about to approach the car, the first suspect began shooting. Then, the second officer approached, and the second suspect joined in the shooting, launching homemade bombs. A firefight ensues as more officers arrive on the scene, and over 200 rounds of ammunition are fired. Eventually, the first suspect ran out of bullets and, in return, threw his gun towards the officers as he charged at one. As the first suspect was getting wrestled to the ground, the second suspect entered the stolen car and began to flee. As he begins to drive away, he ends up dragging the first suspect with him underneath the car and proceeds to run him over. This ultimately takes down the first suspect, and he is rushed to the hospital, but his injuries are too great, and he passes away. At the hospital, they get his DNA and he is identified as Tamerlan Tsarnaev. His brother, Dzhokar, is labeled as the other suspect. The car Dzhokar escaped with is found half a mile away from where the firefight took place, but no suspect is in sight. A perimeter is established as to where Dzhokar may have taken off on foot. The police begin house-to-house searches and essentially establish a lockdown on the area. Eventually, the suspect is possibly sighted at 6:42 pm. The police received a call from a local resident who claimed he spotted the suspect in the boat he had parked in his yard. Within moments, officers and agents swarmed the area. Now, it isn’t confirmed who fired the first shot, but soon a firefight would ensue. It went on for a bit before the senior officer called a ceasefire. After the ceasefire was called, they used an infrared camera to get a look inside the boat, which confirmed the suspect was, in fact, in the boat and alive. They had a two-hour standoff, and around 8:41 pm, the suspect came out of the boat. He was arrested and transported under heavy guard to a medical center.
In the following days, Boston residents and businesses worked to restore the city and held private ceremonies for those hurt and lost. In June 2015, Dzhokar Tsarnaev was found guilty on 30 counts in the indictment and sentenced to death.
