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Boston: A 23-hour
massive search for the second suspect in the Boston Marathon
bombings ended Friday night with the capture of Dzhokar Tsarnaev,
19, a Russian American, after a massive manhunt that virtually
shut down one of America's oldest cities and its suburbs like
Cambridge, where Harvard University is located.
After announcing on Twitter the suspect was in custody, Boston
police tweeted "CAPTURED!!! The hunt is over. The search is done.
The terror is over. And justice has won. Suspect in custody".
The arrest came four days after two bombs exploded near the finish
line of the Boston Marathon Monday killing three people and
leaving over 180 injured.
Tsarnaev was cornered late Friday on a boat in a yard of
Watertown, a suburb of Boston. Authorities "engaged" the man, CNN
reported citing unnamed officials, just minutes after authorities
indicated a manhunt for the suspect appeared to come up empty.
The channel said one of its crews near the scene heard about two
dozen gunshots fired, but it was not clear if the shots were fired
by the suspect, authorities or both. A number of small explosions,
believed to be stun grenades, also were heard.
Authorities, using a bullhorn, called on the suspect to surrender:
"Come out with your hands up."
Dzhokar Tsarnaev, who escaped a shootout with police in suburban
Watertown that left his older brother Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, dead,
was possibly armed with explosives, authorities had warned before
his dramatic capture.
The two brothers of Chechen origin, from the disputed Muslim
region of Chechnya in Russia, but who were born in Kyrgyzstan, are
reported to have come to the US a decade ago. The younger one
became an American citizen last year Sep 11, NBC News reported
citing a law enforcement official.
More than 22 hours after the search focused on the younger
brother, police officers in full body armour, carrying automatic
weapons wrapped up their door-to-door search of the area, Col.
Timothy Alben of the Massachusetts State Police said.
Gov. Deval Patrick, meanwhile, lifted an order that confined an
estimated one million residents to their homes, urging people to
"remain vigilant".
"Investigators are recovering a significant amount of homemade
explosives" from the scene of the shootout, Massachusetts State
Police spokesperson David Procopio told CNN.
It was not immediately clear what explosives were recovered, but
the discovery followed a tense night in which authorities say the
brothers allegedly hurled explosives at pursuers after killing an
officer and hijacking a car.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev was wearing explosives and a triggering device
when he died,CNN said citing a source.
The search followed a violent night in which authorities say the
two men allegedly hurled explosives at pursuers after killing
Massachusetts Institute of Technology police officer Sean Collier
and hijacked a car.
With more than 200 rounds of ammunition and a number of explosives
thrown during the chase and gunbattle, Patrick said the lockdown
was necessary.
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