Boston Marathon Blasts
Second suspect captured
Law enforcers approach an area where Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is hiding on Franklin Street in Watertown, Massachusetts. Photo: AFP/ Mail online
US police on Friday captured an ethnic Chechen teenager suspected of staging the Boston Marathon bombings after a desperate manhunt that paralysed the city and its suburbs.
Responding to a tip from a local resident, police found Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, hiding in a boat in a suburban backyard in Watertown, wounded and weary after a gun battle overnight in which his accomplice brother was killed.
"Captured!!! The hunt is over. The search is done. The terror is over. And justice has won. Suspect in custody," the Boston police department said on Twitter after Tsarnaev was taken away to applause from relieved residents.
People across Boston later descended into the streets to celebrate.
The dramatic end to the manhunt came when the Watertown resident noticed the tarp covering the boat in his backyard was flapping in the wind and a retention strap was cut. He also noticed a small amount of blood on the tarp. He wasted no time and called the police.
A small army of police surrounded the University of Massachusetts student for a final showdown that lasted nearly two hours. Attempts to negotiate with him failed as he was "not communicating," Davis said.
A gunfight ensued, with more than 20 rounds fired. Once captured, Tsarnaev was rushed to a hospital, where he was in serious condition.
"We will determine what happened. We will investigate any associations that these terrorists may have had. And we'll continue to do whatever we have to do to keep our people safe," President Barack Obama said after the capture.
It was not immediately clear when Tsarnaev would be formally charged. US Attorney Carmen Ortiz declined to comment on possible charges he would face.
The arrest ended a dramatic four days after two bombs exploded at the marathon finish line, killing three people and wounding about 180 in the worst attack on the United States since the September 11, 2001 terror attacks.
Tsarnaev lying on the ground after authorities apprehended him. Photo: AFP/Mail Online
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and his 26-year-old brother Tamerlan were named as the main suspects. They were also at the center of a violent spree in which one policeman was killed and a second officer wounded.
Shortly after the FBI released photos of the suspects Thursday night, Tsarnaev and his older brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, led authorities on a whirlwind manhunt sparking a high-speed police chase to Watertown.
Officials say the brothers, for no obvious reason, killed Massachusetts Institute of Technology police officer Sean Collier while he was sitting in his car. The Tsarnaevs then hijacked a vehicle, telling the driver they were the marathon bombers, and hurled explosives at the pursuing officers, authorities said.
Tamerlan died of bullet wounds and injuries from explosives strapped to his body, a hospital doctor said. Dzhokhar managed to flee.
Police launched a huge manhunt on Friday with 9,000 police surrounding Watertown and parts of nearby districts hoping to isolate the teenager, who was believed wounded in the shootout.
Boston ground to a standstill as authorities halted all public transport, ordered schools and universities closed and told people in most of the region to stay in their homes.
The Tsarnaev brothers are ethnic Chechen Muslims who moved to the United States about a decade ago. Their social media pages appeared to express sympathy with the struggle of Chechnya, which has been ravaged by two wars since 1994 between Russia and increasingly Islamist-leaning separatist rebels.
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