Feds: No More Threat at Boston Marathon Bomb Site - East Idaho News
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Feds: No More Threat at Boston Marathon Bomb Site

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GETTY 41613 BMarathonPolice?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1366124495078Darren McCollester/Getty Images(BOSTON) — Authorities have not identified a suspect in the deadly bombing at the Boston Marathon on Monday, but they believe there is no longer an “imminent threat” in the area, federal officials said on Tuesday.

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) special agent in charge Gene Marquez said in a press conference that rumors that there were several unexploded devices were untrue.  The only devices involved in the bombing were the two that detonated, he said.

The Monday afternoon bombing near the finish line of the Boston Marathon claimed three lives and injured more than 170 others, officials said. Seventeen remain in critical condition.

Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis revealed on Tuesday that the marathon route had been swept twice by bomb detection teams prior to the race and had been declared clear.

“[But] people can come and go and bring items in and out” after the races started, he said.

Davis and several other local and federal officials implored the public to provide any evidence, including pictures, videos or observations, they may have to the authorities by calling the FBI Tipline at 1-800-CALL-FBI.  FBI special agent in charge Richard DesLauriers said investigators had already received “voluminous” tips and were “logically” following up on leads.

Tuesday on ABC’s Good Morning America, former White House counter-terrorism advisor and current ABC News consultant Richard Clarke said he believed this would be a case that would be broken either very quickly or one that could require a much larger and longer forensic effort.  Officials on Tuesday appeared to be preparing the public for the latter.

“This is the most complex crime scene we’ve ever dealt with in the history of our department,” Davis said, noting that the FBI is the lead investigating agency.  “Please be patient with us.”

“I ask for your patience and your understanding as we pursue leads and gather evidence to get to the bottom of who did this and why,” U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz said.

Late Monday, a tip about possible explosives led federal agents to search an apartment on the fifth floor of a building in the Boston suburb of Revere, but agents later told residents there was nothing to worry about.  The quick and overwhelming law enforcement response underscored the urgency of the FBI’s effort to track and stop the people responsible.

On Monday, FBI agents also went to a local hospital to question a 20-year-old Saudi college student who was injured in the blast, but authorities stressed that he is not considered a suspect.

Experts said the most important clues could come from several videos from the race that caught the blasts in real time as well as the explosions themselves.

Authorities said the white smoke seen shortly after one of the detonations indicates small bombs with a simple, low-velocity, explosive mixture — not military grade.

“[The attackers] may not have the resources as we have seen in other bomb attacks, but they knew how to make the bomb go BOOM,” said Nick Casale, security expert and former New York Police Department officer.

Experts also pointed to large pieces of metal, seen flying through the air in one of the videos, which suggests the bomb may have been concealed in a mail box or trash barrel.  However police said on Tuesday there’s no hard evidence they were hidden in trash cans.

The limited damage to nearby buildings tells experts the bomb may have failed to fully function as designed.  If it did somehow malfunction, former NYPD bomb squad member Kevin Barry said Boston was potentially saved from “much more catastrophic injury and possibly more death.”

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