One of the suspects believed to be responsible for bombings at the Boston Marathon was today shot dead while the police pursued the second suspect in the Boston region which saw itself in the grip of intense security crackdown.
Both suspects led officers on a wild and deadly chase through suburban neighbourhoods early today that ended in the death of one of them and a MIT campus police officer.
Police have launched a full-scale manhunt for the second suspect, who is armed and considered extremely dangerous.
Governor Deval Patrick has suspended service on all public transit services in the MBTA system in Boston, including the ’T’ subway, buses and commuter trains.
The authorities have asked all residents of the towns of Watertown, Newton, Waltham and Cambridge to stay home and stay indoors.
Watertown was locked down early today, with no one allowed to leave their homes and no businesses allowed to open.
“This situation is grave, we are here to protect public safety,” said Colonel Tim Alben of the Massachusetts State Police.
“We believe these are the same individuals that were responsible for the bombing on Monday at the Boston Marathon ,” Alben said.
“We believe that they are responsible for the death of an MIT police officer and the shooting of an MBTA officer,” he was quoted as saying by Boston Globe.
In the course of the chase, the suspects shot and killed a campus police officer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and severely wounded a transit police officer, police said.
MIT and Harvard University, both in Cambridge, cancelled today’s classes.
Edward Davis, the Boston Police Commissioner, told reporters that the two men involved in the chase were the suspects identified yesterday by the FBI as responsible for setting the explosives at Monday’s marathon that killed three people and injured more than 170 others.
Davis also tweeted that “One suspect deceased, 2nd suspect (white hat) at large & considered armed & dangerous”.