The city of Boston remains under heightened security Tuesday morning, as local and federal investigators search for the persons responsible for Monday’s twin bombings near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. According to CNN, authorities searched an apartment in Revere, Massachusetts, removing two items, but investigators have been quiet on just how the search may be linked to the bombing investigation. Yesterday’s attacks killed at least three people, including an eight-year-old boy, and injured over 100 others. Many of the patients admitted to surrounding area hospitals lost limbs or suffered from shrapnel-type injuries in their legs. Numerous remain in critical condition. The Washington Post reports at least nine children among the injured.
Investigators are beginning the careful process of piecing together clues that could indicate who was responsible. Two undetonated devices were recovered near the others, one near the bomb site at a hotel on Boylston Street; the other was found at an undisclosed location. These could prove tremendously helpful in the investigation, should the devices reveal fingerprints or other identifying information. Authorities also plan to search surveillance cameras and other video evidence near the attack. So far, no footage has been found showing someone placing the bombs.
The president stopped short of calling Monday’s attacks in Boston an act of terror. Yet security officials are treating it as such, deploying additional forces both in the area and also in other metropolitan areas, from New York City to London, the latter where the next international marathon is scheduled to take place this Sunday, WORLD reports. Security has also been tightened at several U.S. landmarks, government buildings, transit hubs, and sporting events.
The FBI is taking the lead in investigating the attacks. The Boston Division of the FBI said in a statement that “the situation remains fluid, and it remains too early to establish the cause and motivation.” U.S. Rep. Bill Keating of Massachusetts and a member of the House Homeland Security committee called the bombings a “sophisticated, coordinated, planned attack,” according to the CNN report.
Christian leaders in the U.S. responded quickly to the bomb blasts, sharing their own grief and calling for prayer, the Christian Post reports. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted (Matthew 5:4),” wrote Pastor David Fairchild, the leader of Mars Hill West Seattle Church, in a blog post on the church’s website. Rick Warren, who has been publicly grieving his son’s suicide through social media, tweeted, “Pray for Boston. Now.”
The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association also took to Twitter to ask for prayer. “Continuing to pray for #BostonMarathon victims and witnesses, including the two families who have lost loved ones. #Pray4Boston.”
In other acts of kindness and support, many local Bostonians offered their spare rooms, couches, food and cars for visitors stranded in the city after investigators evacuated many of the surrounding hotels.
On Tuesday, a section of Boston’s Back Bay neighborhood remained cordoned off by police, with litter left by runners scattered in the street.
Publication date: April 16, 2013
