The FBI is asking for the public’s help in locating a pair of suspects wanted for questioning in connection with the Boston Marathon bombings that left three dead and nearly 200 wounded.
Authorities released images of the two apparently associated suspects, seen wearing hats and backpacks walking toward the scene of the duel explosions seconds and yards apart at the Boylston Street finish line on Monday afternoon. They’re considered armed and dangerous.
“After a very detailed analysis of photo, video and other evidence, we are releasing photos of these two suspects,” Rick DesLauriers, FBI Special Agent in Charge of the Boston field office, told reporters at a news conference Thursday. “Somebody out there knows these indidivuals as friends, neighbors, coworkers or family members.”
The announcement came after a string of cancelled FBI press conferences and reports that a suspect had been arrested Wednesday—reports that were later retracted. The Boston federal courthouse and a nearby hospital were also evacuated for a bomb threat Wednesday, but DesLauriers said there is no lingering threat to the city.
DesLauriers said that the FBI has dedicated a specific website for the investigation, BostonMarathonTips.FBI.gov, where the public can submit their own photographic evidence. Tips can also be phoned in to 1-800-CALL-FBI.
He also cautioned that the public should focus only on the photos of the suspects that the FBI released to identify them because the reliability of other photos on the Internet cannot be verified by law enforcement.
President Barack Obama also spoke at an interfaith ceremony in Boston on Thursday, where he told the city, “Every one of us has been touched by this attack on your beloved city. Every one of us stands with you.”
