Explosion reported near Boston Marathon finish line

In summary: Just really upsetting.In summary, two explosions have been reported near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, and there are reports of injuries. There is also conflicting information as to whether or not law enforcement has a suspect in custody.
  • #36
Evo said:
It was the spectators on the sidewalk that were targeted, not the runners.

This is misleading. You have no idea who the targets of this attack were as we don't even know whom the suspects are as of yet. So, making claims such as, "people on the sidewalk were the targets, not the runners," is unfounded and needs a citation if you are to make such claims.

Aside from that, the person(s) that carried out this attack possibly wouldn't find it feasible to plant bombs on the running track. That is silly to think they'd be able to place bombs on the track without anyone noticing.

All we know is bombs went off at the event, people were injured as a result, nothing more.
 
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  • #37
Mentalist said:
Aside from that, the person(s) that carried out this attack possibly wouldn't find it feasible to plant bombs on the running track. That is silly to think they'd be able to place bombs on the track without anyone noticing.
And that is why the runners weren't the target.
 
  • #38
Still, you cannot assume that they weren't the targets. Your opinion isn't fact.
 
  • #39
Mentalist said:
Still, you cannot assume that they weren't the targets. Your opinion isn't fact.

You said yourself that the IED could not have been on the track. De facto, the people one the sidewalk were on the front line, they were the main victims, and hence can be logically called "target". It is however not logical to claim "they wanted to aim at the president, but the white house was inaccessible" I think we can agree on that one.
 
  • #40
This is a possible picture of the second bomb. http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/local/boston/10010384080855/exclusive-fbi-investigating-photo-that-shows-bag/
 
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  • #41
nsaspook said:
This is a possible picture of the second bomb. http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/local/boston/10010384080855/exclusive-fbi-investigating-photo-that-shows-bag/

Wow...just, wow.
 
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  • #42
lisab said:
Wow...just, wow.

Makes me sick looking at the people right in front on it
 
  • #43
Greg Bernhardt said:
Makes me sick looking at the people right in front on it

Agreed, very disturbing photo.

Such a tragedy hearing about it and such madness.

My father ran it last year and he finished in the second wave, I couldn't even imagine him going again this year -- only to be hit. I talked with him a few hours ago asking if he had any friends that went this year and he told me that there were two people he knew that were there, but he said they finished just 20 minutes before the explosions went off. Thankfully, they're all right.

Still though makes me sad just thinking about it.
 
  • #44
nsaspook said:
This is a possible picture of the second bomb. http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/local/boston/10010384080855/exclusive-fbi-investigating-photo-that-shows-bag/
It doesn't seem likely, according to officials.

Investigators have also recovered components of the bombs, enabling them to determine that they consisted of two 6-liter pressure cookers packed with nails, ball bearings, and other metal. The makeshift bombs were placed in black duffel bags, the official said.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/04/16/some-areas-downtown-boston-reopen-today-boston-marathon-bombing-investigation-continues/qTROe6L0b98qRl9W7dnWiJ/story.html
 
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  • #45
interesting photos here...
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...phs-Is-second-bomb-just-seconds-exploded.html



article-2310200-19555E9E000005DC-383_470x423.jpg


They found a circuit board.
The time between blasts sounds about right for a second cellphone call.
I think they'll find the culprits.

Every one of these incidents takes me right back to Joseph Conrad's "Secret Agent", a character study of stupidness. This could be from watching too much "Beavis and Butthead" .
 
  • #46
Just announced, an arrest has been made thanks to surveillance video from the Lord & Taylor store near the blast.
 
  • #47
Evo said:
Just announced, an arrest has been made thanks to surveillance video from the Lord & Taylor store near the blast.

Good news. Source?
 
  • #49
Evo said:
Now they say no arrest made yet.

Lol.

I'm done with this. Gonna go watch some SportsCenter.
 
  • #50
nsaspook said:
This is a possible picture of the second bomb. http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/local/boston/10010384080855/exclusive-fbi-investigating-photo-that-shows-bag/

Nothing happened to the mail box nearby?

The 6 year old girl whose leg was blown off makes me very sad.
 
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  • #51
  • #53
This man is a real Hero.

http://www.10news.com/news/father-of-camp-pendleton-marine-hailed-as-hero-in-boston-marathon-bombings-041613

BOSTON - The father of a fallen Camp Pendleton Marine is being hailed as a hero for his attempts to help the wounded after the explosions near the Boston Marathon finish line.

Carlos Arredondo's efforts were one of the most enduring images from the tragedy.

His Cowboy hat and flag are seen here. http://blogs.reuters.com/fullfocus/files/2013/04/09Bostonmdf1581976.jpg
 
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  • #54
Evo said:
It's not likely the bomb. The bomb appears to be closer to the building, as can be seen in this photo, if the garbage bag was still there when the blast occurred, it's likely it was blown off the curb.

http://blogs.reuters.com/fullfocus/2013/04/16/boston-marathon-bombing/#a=1

All of the mass pooling of blood from vaporized flesh is near the mailbox. http://blogs.reuters.com/fullfocus/files/2013/04/23Bostonmdf1581714.jpg

I can also see evidence locators placed near it. If that bag didn't contain the bomb (backpack in a trash bag) is was very close to that spot as the mailbox seemed to have shielded people on the other side.
 
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  • #55
nsaspook said:
All of the mass pooling of blood from vaporized flesh is near the mailbox. http://blogs.reuters.com/fullfocus/files/2013/04/23Bostonmdf1581714.jpg

I can also see evidence locators placed near it. If that bag didn't contain the bomb (backpack in a trash bag) is was very close to that spot as the mailbox seemed to have shielded people on the other side.
It makes sense that the people were gathered on the sidewalk at the railing, so that is where the blood would be, not the explosion from behind that ripped into them. Of course I am just going by photos and reports. If you look at the explosion, you can see where it was, back towards the building and spraying out initially, which they said is how the bombs were intended, to spray projectiles straight ahead and cutting into people mostly at knee level and below. It makes the intentions all the more heinous.
 
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  • #56
As word spread of the videos Wednesday afternoon, officials emphatically denied a flurry of news reports that they had made an arrest. The F.B.I. was still “looking for a name to put with a face in a video,” one law enforcement official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

. . . .
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/18/us/boston-investigation-moves-into-third-day.html

Apparently websites have been created based on pictures from around the internet. Folks are trying to identify 'suspicious' people. The NYT article ends with
“Does anyone remember Richard Jewell?,” a reference to the security guard at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta who was wrongly cast as a suspect after a bomb blast there.

The perpetrator could have placed the devices hours before or minutes before, and lots of other folks traveled or stopped through the area. So there are lots of innocent folks who could be implicated simply from being there and recorded on video.
 
  • #58
Here's a link that contains a slideshow (scroll down a little, and it's to the left), if you'd rather see images as opposed to a video (showing images).
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57580325/fbi-releases-video-of-2-boston-bombing-suspects/
 
  • #59
Greg Bernhardt said:
FBI releases photos, video of Boston bomb suspects
http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/18/us/boston-blasts/index.html?hpt=hp_t1
I'd hate to be suspect 2, because I'm sure family, friends or associates should be able to readily identify this person from the profile. They look like they could be university students. I wonder if they bought the gunpowder recently. A large purchase would be suspicious. Then again, apparently one can buy 8 lbs on-line. :uhh:
 

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  • #62
nsaspook said:
The second bomb, maybe dropped by the guy in the white hat: Saved by the mailbox. http://www.cnn.com/video/?hpt=hp_t2#/video/us/2013/04/18/ac-steve-byrne-boston-marathon-survivor.cnn
That makes sense since the bomb was to the back and left of the mailbox, as you are facing the sidewalk. The bag of trash that had been photographed over an hour-2 earlier was not the bomb.

The man identified as "Suspect 2" was seen setting down a backpack at the site of the second explosion "within minutes" of the blast, said Special Agent Rick DesLauriers, the head of the FBI's Boston office
Thus making the little grocery bags not the bomb.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/18/us/boston-blasts/index.html?hpt=hp_t1
 
  • #63
Evo said:
Thus making the little grocery bags not the bomb.

Agree, now let's hope we can find that bastard.

I can also see evidence locators placed near it. If that bag didn't contain the bomb (backpack in a trash bag) is was very close to that spot as the mailbox seemed to have shielded people on the other side.
 
  • #64
NPR reported these two were seen coming into the area together, then splitting up - one going to site 1, the other to site 2. I almost screamed 'hell yeah!' in my car when I heard that. Really sounds like they're onto the right guys.

Those pics are great, anyone who knows the guys would recognize them immediately. I'm a bit concerned they have not been grabbed yet.
 
  • #65
nsaspook said:
Agree, now let's hope we can find that bastard.
Yeah, there was a tree with dirt all around it that would have possibly captured a lot of evidence. I've seen photos of them scraping out the dirt with a hand trowel and a shovel and carrying the dirt away. Now they even cut down the tree and removed it, I suspect they hope to find more evidence lodged in the tree.
 
  • #66
Astronuc said:
... They look like they could be university students. I wonder if they bought the gunpowder recently. A large purchase would be suspicious. Then again, apparently one can buy 8 lbs on-line. :uhh:
Has anybody heard what was the explosive?

One report I saw Monday said FBI was looking for people who've recently researched 'Sodium Chlorate' over internet... so I assumed it was a home-brew .

the smoke looked to me too light-colored for black powder.
 
  • #68
jim hardy said:
Has anybody heard what was the explosive?

One report I saw Monday said FBI was looking for people who've recently researched 'Sodium Chlorate' over internet... so I assumed it was a home-brew .

the smoke looked to me too light-colored for black powder.

It's really hard to say from just looking at the pictures. The pressure cooker IED is a cheap way to increase the effective blast force from a slow burning powder.

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2013/04/boston-bomb-smoke/
 
  • #69
Just speculation re: the explosive, but Pyrodex is cheap and widely available.

I wish the media had not given so many details about the containers and the shrapnel they contained. It appeared that the bombs were relatively simple and that could encourage copycats.
 

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