Boston Marathon Bombing Suspect 2 In Custody; Suspect 1 Dead

Yiqing Shao, Kaitlyn Johnston, Eric Randall, and Steve Annear contributed to this report.

Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev, the 19-year-old suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings who set off a day-long manhunt that shut down major swaths of greater Boston, is alive and has been taken into custody. A medic is on the scene to attend to injuries, which are reportedly non-fatal gunshot wounds.

Suspect in custody. Officers sweeping the area. Stand by for further info.

— Boston Police Dept. (@Boston_Police) April 20, 2013

Tsarnaev was found wounded and hiding in a boat in a back yard of a house on Franklin Street in Watertown, according to reports from the scene. At a press conference announcing the capture, U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz hinted at what’s to come, saying her office will sift through evidence before filing charges. “My journey, and my office’s journey, begins,” she noted.

The backyard where Tsarnaev was reportedly captured, via Google Earth

Authorities confirmed Friday morning that Suspect 1, identified as Tamorlan Tsarnaev, of Cambridge, was fatally shot in the early morning hours after a chase that ended in Watertown, Mass. Suspect 2, Tsarnaev’s brother Dzhokhar Tsarnaev fled the scene and prompted a daylong search for what police believed to be an armed and dangerous suspect that brought the entire Boston area to a halt.

The FBI released photos of two suspects they believed were linked to the Boston Marathon bombings. Around 10:48 p.m. Thursday night, a fatal shooting of an MIT police officer near Building 32 (also known as the Stata Center) and a reported carjacking in Cambridge prompted a police chase, during which the suspects threw explosives from their vehicles toward their pursuers, authorities said. The chase ended in Watertown, where a number of explosions were heard, as were perhaps 80 to 100 gunshots, according to witnesses in the area.

During the shootout, Tamorlan Tsarnaev was shot and later pronounced dead at Beth Israel Medical Center due to multiple gunshot wounds and possible blast injuries. A transit officer, Richard Donohue, was also seriously hurt and taken to Mount Auburn Hospital, where he had surgery and is in critical, though stable, condition.

NBC reported that at least one pressure cooker was found at the Watertown crime scene, further suggesting that these suspects were responsible for the Boston Marathon bombing, an act of terrorism that killed three and injured more than 170 people near the finish line on Boylston Street on Monday afternoon.

Prior to the MIT shooting, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, still on the run, was photographed on surveillance at a 7-Eleven. Police Commissioner Ed Davis said, “We believe this to be a terrorist. We believe this to be a man who came here to kill people.”

As the Boston area awoke Friday morning, authorities suspended MBTA service and asked that people in Watertown, Cambridge, Boston, and other surrounding areas to exercise extreme caution, stay in their homes, and refrain from answering their doors, which effectively suspended all business and activity in the city Friday, resulting in a chilling sight of city streets empty at midday.

Meanwhile, people began to learn more about the two men believed to have caused so much mayhem in the past week. The Tsarnaev brothers are Chechan, and immigrated to the U.S. about 10 years ago. Those who knew them expressed surprise that they’d be involved, as the media sought a clearer picture of their life in the United States.

Amid the chaos, authorities confirmed that the MIT officer killed on Thursday night had been identified as Sean Collier, 26, of Somerville. The Middlesex DA’s office says Collier joined the MIT police in January 2012. His family released a statement:

“We are heartbroken by the loss of our wonderful and caring son and brother, Sean,” his family wrote.  “Our only solace is that Sean died bravely doing what he committed his life to – serving and protecting others.”