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| FBI releases photos and video of two suspects in Boston marathon bombings |
The FBI has released photographs of two suspects in the Boston marathon bombings that killed three people and injured more than 170, calling upon the public to help them track down the men.
At a dramatic press conference in the Sheraton hotel in Boston, just a couple of blocks away from the bomb site, the FBI's Boston chief, Richard DesLauriers, unveiled photographs of two young men whom he called "Suspect 1" and "Suspect 2". By studying footage from the crime scene, he said, the FBI had concluded that the two were associated with each other, and that Suspect 2 put down a backpack at the site of the second explosion, just in front of the Forum restaurant, shortly before the blast occurred.
Following apparently planting the bomb, Suspect 2 walked west along Boylston Street and then disappeared from police sight. Video released by the FBI on its website showed Suspect 1 walking through the marathon crowd, followed by Suspect 2 about five paces behind. The two men do not talk to each other but do move in the same direction, both with bulky packs slung on their shoulders.
In the photographs, the two suspects are seen walking through the crowd of marathon spectators up Boylston Street, in the vicinity of Gloucester Street. Each suspect is the subject of four photographs: Suspect 1 is heavy set, wearing sunglasses and a black baseball cap with a white insignia in front; he is dressed in a white T-shirt and a knee-length dark coat and khaki-coloured trousers. Suspect 2 is thinner, with dark curly hair protruding from a white baseball cap placed backwards on his head. He is dressed in a grey hoody beneath a black coat and black trousers.
Both appear to be in their mid- to late twenties. Crucially, both are seen carrying a black backpack – the FBI has found fragments of such bags in the debris around the bomb site and has concluded that the pressure-cooker devices were carried in heavy backpacks.
DesLauriers stressed that the two men were armed and extremely dangerous, and warned the public not to approach them in any circumstances. But he also repeated his appeal for somebody to come forward.
"For more than 100 years the FBI has relied on the public to be its eyes and ears," he said. "The public will play a critical role. Somebody out there knows these individuals as family, friends or neighbours. It may be difficult, but the nation is relying on the public to come forward."
The release of the suspect photos propels the hunt for the Boston marathon bombers into a new phase. DesLauriers said there would be no more media briefings for the foreseeable future, as the 1,000 FBI agents assigned to the chase would be focusing exclusively on apprehending the men. "Identifying and locating those responsible is now our highest responsibility. It continues to be an ongoing active investigation," he said.
DesLauriers stressed that he was aware of no further threats to the public. But the country remains jittery, with a spate of recent evacuations of public buildings including the federal courthouse in Boston on Wednesday.
DesLauriers appealed to the media to regard the two men in the FBI photos as the only suspects the agency was pursuing. The comment was made pointedly in the wake of a spate of inaccurate media stories, including reports of an arrest on Wednesday that were later discounted. The comment is particularly embarrassing for the New York Post, which printed on its front page on Thursday pictures of two men it said the FBI was interested in. The men in the Post pictures were not those identified by the FBI as its only suspects.
DesLauriers said the FBI had initially focused on a single suspect, having pored through thousands of hours of video and followed thousands of tips. But agents had eventually been led to a second suspect, who appeared to be associated with the first.
