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Police Capture Boston Bombing Suspect


Police officers aim their weapons in Watertown, Massachusetts, April 19, 2013.
Police officers aim their weapons in Watertown, Massachusetts, April 19, 2013.
Police have captured alive the second suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings after an intense day-long search of the Boston area.

Police cornered 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev hiding inside a boat in the backyard of a house in the Boston suburb of Watertown. Reports say he has been wounded and is in serious condition.

Onlookers cheered police and the FBI as they drove out of Watertown.

Massachusetts state police chief Tom Alben said he is eternally grateful for what happened Friday night, describing the police as exhausted but victorious. Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick said he is grateful to all law enforcement for what he called their extraordinary collaboration and cooperation.

Watch report from VOA's Carolyn Presutti in Watertown, Massachusetts

Relief Greets Arrest of Boston Bombing Suspect
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They also thanked the public for their patience and thousands of tips phoned into the FBI and police, including the call that led police to the suspect hiding in the boat.

President Barack Obama, addressing reporters Friday night at the White House, said the nation is in debt to people of Boston and Massachusetts and to those he called the outstanding law enforcement professionals. He said the two bombers have failed because Americans refuse to be terrorized.

The FBI has identified Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and his older brother Tamerlan as the suspects in Monday's twin bombings at the Boston Marathon. The blasts killed three people and injured 176. They were identified just hours after the FBI released pictures of the two hoping the public would recognize them.

The FBI says it has video of Dzhokhar placing a backpack along a curb moments before the bombing.

Tamerlan was killed in a shootout with police in Watertown Thursday after he and his brother allegedly killed a security officer from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Police say they also stole a car and threw grenades and other explosives at officers during a police chase.

Police also say three people are have been taken into custody in the town of New Bedford, Massachusetts, where Dzhokhar once lived.

The brothers are ethnic Chechens and came to the Boston area as children. Family members and friends say they cannot believe the two could have carried out such a dreadful crime.

An uncle who lives in suburban Washington called them losers, though, who brought shame on all Chechens.

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