The carnage of the blast scene on Boylston Street in Boston spread quickly to area hospitals as emergency caregivers rushed to tend to the runners, spectators, and race officials who were suffering from often critical wounds. NBC's Katy Tur reports.
By Pete Williams, Richard Esposito and Erin McClam, NBC News
Investigators believe the bombs at the Boston Marathon were shrapnel-studded pressure cookers, hidden in backpacks and set off by timers, law enforcement officials told NBC News on Tuesday.
The disclosure came as authorities pleaded with spectators from the race to send photos and video that may shed light on who set off the blasts, killing three people and injuring at least 176.
The top FBI official in Boston vowed to go ?to the ends of the earth? to find those responsible. But a day after the explosions, President Barack Obama said authorities still did not know whether the attack was foreign or domestic, the work of a group or an individual, or what the motive might be.
Law enforcement officials told NBC News that the explosives were classified as low ? meaning that they traveled at under 3,300 feet per second. That is not enough to create a blast wave, which can kill people from air compression and blow out faraway windows, but it is enough to propel the shrapnel a great distance.
Informal public efforts sprang up almost immediately to scour the mass of photos and video already posted on Twitter, Facebook and other sites for clues. Authorities added their own call for help, hoping that in an era of ever-present smartphones, race fans might be holding evidence without even knowing it.
Charles Krupa / AP
See images from the scene of the explosions.
?There has to be hundreds, if not thousands, of photographs, videos and other observations that were made down at that finish line yesterday,? said Timothy Alben, superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police. ?You might not think it?s significant, but it might have some value to this investigation.?
From the White House, Obama praised acts of heroism after the explosions and said that the investigation would take time.
?We will find whoever harmed our citizens, and we will bring them to justice,? he vowed. ?We also know this: The American people refuse to be terrorized.?
Authorities confirmed at a mid-morning news conference that only two bombs went off Monday. Contradicting reports from the chaotic early hours after the blasts, they said that no unexploded devices were found.
Overnight, law enforcement officials searched a suburban Boston apartment building, interviewed a man and removed a duffel bag and two trash bags. But a law enforcement official later told NBC News that nothing of interest was found. They also issued alerts for a rental van and a man seen leaving the scene of the blasts.
Law enforcement officials also told NBC News that the bombs, which detonated seconds apart, were packed with ball bearings and BBs, apparently intended to increase the casualties. The blasts?turned the finish line of the marathon into a hellish scene of panicked spectators, shattered glass and blood-spattered sidewalks.
Martin Richard, 8, was killed in the marathon bombing.
Among the dead was an 8-year-old boy, identified by NBC affiliate WHDH as Martin Richard, who was waiting at the finish. Among the injured were brothers, 33 and 31, who each lost a leg from the knee down, The Boston Globe reported.
As of 11:30 a.m. ET, there were 103 patients from the blasts still being treated at six Boston hospitals, including some who had injuries described as ?limb-threatening.? An official at Boston Children?s Hospital said the youngest victim was a 2-year-old boy with a head injury.
Investigators were studying surveillance video to look for anyone placing packages at the points where the bombs exploded. Law enforcement officials said there was video showing a person, from the back, carrying two backpacks, but they said it was too soon to know whether that was related to the attack.
The Boston police commissioner called the resulting crime scene the most complex that the department has ever dealt with, and said all sworn officers were working around the clock. The FBI took charge, but an array of law enforcement agencies joined the hunt. Leads poured in.
?We will go to the ends of the Earth to identify the subject or subjects who are responsible for this despicable crime, and we will do everything we can to bring them to justice,? said Richard DesLauriers, the FBI agent in charge in Boston.
Investigators picked through mounds of personal belongings left by some of the thousands of people who fled the finish line, at Boylston Street, after gathering for perhaps the most joyous day on the Boston calendar ? Patriots Day.
Authorities have repeatedly praised spectators, runners and race volunteers for charging in to help. One in particular gained online fame ? a man named?Carlos Arredondo who was pictured in a photo helping rush a gray-faced young man in a wheelchair to safety, pinching what appeared to be a protruding artery to stop the blood.
Do you know a Boston hero? Tell NBC News
NBC News chief justice correspondent Pete Williams discusses the latest on the Boston Marathon bombing, saying investigators spoke at length with a 20-year-old student yesterday, whose apartment was searched overnight.
Obama cited runners who had kept going after the race to get to hospitals, and people who tore off clothes to make tourniquets.
?If you want to know who we are, what America is, how we respond to evil, that?s it,? he said. ?Selflessly, compassionately, unafraid.?
Firefighters spent the night chasing bomb scares around a jittery city, and the country was on edge on the day after the explosions. A terminal at LaGuardia Airport in New York, a plane in Boston and part of the Cleveland transit system were briefly cleared because of suspicious packages.?
A fire at the John F. Kennedy presidential library in Boston more than an hour after the blasts, initially treated by investigators as related, appeared be caused by a simple electrical short, police said.
The blasts went off just before 3 p.m., with thousands of runners still on the course. They sent up white plumes of smoke, rattled police barricades and stiffened flags set up to celebrate the 96 countries that sent runners to the most prestigious road race.
Boston Globe senior sports reporter Steve Silva was covering the Boston Marathon yesterday when he caught the explosions on tape, and finish line coordinator Tom Meagher ran to the aid of a fallen runner. The two men talk about the tragedy they witnessed.
?In 28 years, this is definitely the worst I?ve seen,? said Chief Ron Harrington of the Boston Fire Department?s District 3. ?Bodies and body parts. Blood all over. A little boy lying in the street. A young woman in her 20s. Both dead. It was mayhem. I saw two people with arms hanging loose, and one without a leg. A shoe with flesh still in it.?
Obama pledged on Monday?to bring ?the full weight of justice? to bear on whoever was responsible, and pledged the help of the federal government.
Meanwhile, authorities in other big cities increased security. Extra police officers patrolled the New York subways, and streets were closed around the White House. In London, officials preparing for an upcoming marathon reviewed security plans.
NBC News national security analyst Michael Leiter said it was ?virtually impossible? to keep a marathon secure because of its long route.
?You just have to do the best you can to keep people safe and maintain resilience,? he said. ?It?s important we don?t alter our lives because that provides the terrorist ? domestic, international, whoever it may be ? with a huge victory.?
Law enforcement officials told NBC News that authorities questioned a 20-year-old man who is in the United States on a valid student visa. He was seen running from the blast area, had burns and was interviewed in a Boston hospital. But an official told NBC News that interest in the man was fading. It was his apartment building, in the Boston suburb of Revere, that police and federal agents searched overnight.
The race drew 27,000 runners and has been run since 1897 on Patriots Day, the third Monday in April, which commemorates Lexington and Concord, the two battles in Massachusetts that started the American Revolution.
The year, the race coincided with the filing deadline for federal taxes. Security experts said the FBI would undoubtedly look into the possible significance of the date as they tried to find the bomber and the motive.
NBC News' Pete Williams and Jonathan Dienst contributed to this report.
Related:
Who is the hero in the cowboy hat at the finish line?
Timeline of a tragedy: What happened when
Full coverage of Boston Marathon bombings from NBC News
Source: NBC News, Boston Globe, Boston Athletic Association
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This story was originally published on Mon Apr 15, 2013 11:03 PM EDT
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