Less than seven hours after the FBI releases images of Boston bombing suspects, one is killed in a shootout with police, the other remains the target of a massive manhunt

BOSTON — The city and its suburbs are in lockdown this afternoon as a massive manhunt intensifies for the surviving suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings. The search comes just hours after the suspect's older brother was killed in a dramatic shootout with police in nearby Watertown.
Authorities are focusing their hunt in Watertown on Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, the brother of the dead suspect, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26. Police say Dzhokhar is armed and fear he is wearing an explosive vest.
Shortly after 12:30 p.m., ET, police said they were pursuing fresh leads.
A federal law enforcement official told USA TODAY that authorities have yet to search the Cambridge, Mass., residence where the brothers were living, in part because of concern that it may hold explosives or be booby-trapped.
During the pursuit of the overnight and early-morning pursuit of the suspects, the official said authorities recovered a handful of improvised explosive devices (IEDs), including one in the possession of Tamerlan Tsarnaev. All of the devices appeared to be homemade "fused'' explosives.
Investigators have not found any formal links so far to an international terror group. Law enforcement officials are investigating the brothers' possible link to a third person, according to a law enforcement official who was not authorized to comment publicly. The identity of that person was not immediately clear.
The shootings and Dzhokar's escape prompted Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick to order the city of Boston and its surrounding suburbs locked down and its residents to remain in their homes. Businesses in Watertown, Newton, Waltham, Belmont, Cambridge and the Alston and Brighton neighborhoods of Boston were requested to remain closed and residents to remain indoors until the suspect is caught. Massachusetts shut down all mass transit, including buses and trains, in Boston and surrounding suburbs, Kurt Schwartz, director of Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency said. Schools were closed and classes canceled at most universities.
The Tsarnaevs are believed to have moved to the USA from war-torn Chechnya in 2003, along with other family members. Tamerlan attended Bunker Hill Community College in nearby Charlestown as a part-time student for three semesters from 2006 to 2008, studying accounting.
In an telephone interview from Russian with the Associated Press, the brothers' father, Anzor Tsarnaev, said Dzhokhar is "a true angel" and "an intelligent boy."
Ruslan Tsarni of Md. says 19-year-old Dzhozkar Tsarnaev should turn himself in to police and ask for forgiveness
Ruslan Tsarni, an uncle who had not spoken to his brother's sons in several months, urged Dzhokhar to turn himself in to authorities. Meeting with reporters Friday, Tsani said he believed the brothers may have been recently "radicalized." Tsarni says he was unaware of any military or weapons training they may have received. Tsarni called the brothers "losers" and said they had brought his family shame.
Their names were not known to law enforcement officials before the bombings, which killed three people and wounded 176. Authorities are reviewing the brothers' possible ties to Chechnya — an area of Russia plagued by Islamic insurgency — a law enforcement official who is not authorized to comment publicly told USA TODAY.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is believed to have dropped a backpack laden with explosives at the site of Monday's second explosion. He was pictured wearing a white baseball cap in video images released by the FBI Thursday. His page on the Russian social networking site Vkontakte says he attended Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, graduating in 2011, the year he won a $2,500 college scholarship from the city of Cambridge. On the website, his world view is described as "Islam" and he says his personal goal is "career and money."
Police are on the hunt for 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the second suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings. His brother, 26-year-old Tamerlan Tsarnaev, was killed in a firefight with police early Friday.
Larry Aaronson, a neighbor and retired history teacher at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, got to know Dzhokhar while taking photos of the high school wrestling team and other school activities.
"It's completely out of his character," Aaronson said of Dzhokhar's alleged role in the bombings. "Everything about him was wonderful. He was completely outgoing, very engaged, he loved the school. He was grateful not to be in Chechnya."
Dzhokhar was not overtly political or religious, Aaronson says. "He spoke and acted like any other high school kid."
Aaronson says he can't reconcile the young man he knows with the characterizations he's seeing in the media. "I cannot do it," he says. "I mean this from the deepest part of my heart: It's not possible it's the same person. It's just not possible."
The manhunt for the marathon bombing suspects turned into hot pursuit at 10:30 p.m. Thursday, when the two men robbed a 7-Eleven convenience store on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology campus in Cambridge. Minutes later, an MIT campus police officer was shot multiple times as he was sitting in his car. He was later pronounced dead at Massachusetts General Hospital. He was identified Friday as Sean Collier, 26, an MIT police officer since January 2012 and previously a civilian employee at the Somerville Police Department.
The suspects carjacked a Mercedes SUV in Cambridge, holding the driver at gunpoint for a half hour before he was released unharmed, according to the Middlesex district attorney's office. Police found the car and the suspects in Watertown, and pursued them into a residential neighborhood where gunfire was exchanged.
A transit police officer, Richard H. Donohue Jr., 33, was reported in critical condition after being shot, police said.
Amateur video purports to show a police shootout during a manhunt for the Boston Marathon bombing suspects.
Witnesses report hearing many gunshots.
Massachusetts State Police Superintendent Timothy Alben said Tamerlan Tsarnaev was shot by police in a gunfight following a pursuit that began late Thursday night in Cambridge and ended a short time later in Watertown. He was pronounced dead at a hospital.
Alben said the suspects also threw explosives from the car. Residents, witnesses and media in the area heard at least two large booms.
"I heard sirens, then a ton of gunshots,'' said Adam Healy, 31, a behavioral specialist for autism who lives less than a mile from the scene. "And then I heard an explosion amid the gunshots. After the explosion, the sky lit up."
Dan MacDonald, 40, sitting in a second-story Watertown apartment, said he first heard sirens, then gunshots.
"It was about 10 to 15 shots. then there was an onslaught," he said. "There were 25 to 60 shots within 45 seconds. Then the shots stopped and boom. It was like dynamite."
Alvi Tsarnaev, another uncle of the suspects, said Friday that Tamerlan phoned him Thursday night at about 7 p.m., the first time they had spoken in about two years.
"He said, 'I love you and forgive me,' " said Alvi Tsarnaev, who lives in Montgomery Village, Md. He wasn't seeking forgiveness for the bombing, but asking for forgiveness because he hadn't spoken to him in so long.
"We were not talking for a long time because there were some problems," Alvi Tsarnaev said without elaborating. "We were not happy with each other."
They spoke for about five minutes, he said. Tamerlan, who is Muslim, started out by saying, "Salam Aleikum," an Arabic greeting meaning "peace on you." He then praised his uncle for keeping up with his Muslim prayers.
"He told me he was happy," he said. "He was asking, 'Did you pay your mortgage?' I told him I was trying to pay. I asked him what he was doing. He said, 'I fix cars, I got married, got a baby.'
"Killing innocent people, I cannot forgive that," Alvi Tsarnaev said. "It's crazy. I don't believe it now even. How can I forgive this?"
A police officer evacuates a man and child from a Watertown, Mass., home April 19 as law enforcement officials search for a suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings.
A police officer evacuates a man and child from a Watertown, Mass., home April 19 as law enforcement officials search for a suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings.  Matt Rourke, AP
Fullscreen
  • A police officer evacuates a man and child from a Watertown, Mass., home April 19 as law enforcement officials search for a suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings.
  • This undated photo provided by the Vkontakte website shows Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. He is a suspect in the Boston Marathon bombing.
  • A woman is evacuated from a home as safety officials search the Watertown, Mass., neighborhood for a suspect in the Boston Marathon bombing.
  • Boston Police secure a Watertown, Mass., apartment building as they search for a suspect in the Boston Marathon bombing.
  • Safety officials search and secure a Watertown, Mass., neighborhood for a suspect in the Boston Marathon bombing.
  • A Massachusetts State Police officer checks the bag of a cyclist during heightened security Friday in Watertown, Mass.
  • Law enforcement agencies put up police tape securing a perimeter as a woman is questioned by the FBI near the home of a Boston Marathon bombing suspect in Cambridge, Mass.
  • A woman is questioned by FBI and other law enforcement agencies near the home of a Boston Marathon bombing suspect in Cambridge, Mass.
  • Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, a suspect in the Boston Marathon bombing, is shown in a photo from his Russian social media site account.
  • The FBI released on Friday this image identified as Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. He is a suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings.
  • Police in tactical gear arrive via an armored police vehicle as they surround an apartment building while looking for a suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings in Watertown, Mass., on Friday. The bombs that blew up seconds apart near the finish line of the Boston Marathon left the streets spattered with blood and glass, and gaping questions of who chose to attack and why.
  • Safety officials inspect vehicles in Watertown, Mass., as the search continues for a the second of two suspects in the April 15 Boston Marathon bombing. One suspect was killed in an overnight shootout.
  • Boston police search for a suspect at a Watertown, Mass., apartment building.
  • Safety officials prepare to search a Watertown, Mass., apartment building for a suspect in the Boston Marathon bombing.
  • Boston police search for a Boston Marathon bombing suspect at a residential building in Watertown, Mass.
  • Police surround an apartment building in Watertown, Mass.
  • Police patrol School and Walnut streets in Watertown, Mass. early Friday, as the search continues for the second of two Boston Marathon bombing suspects. The first suspect was killed in an overnight shootout.
  • SWAT officers hang off the back of a truck as they prepare to search a neighborhood in Watertown, Mass.
  • Police surround an apartment building in Watertown, Mass.
  • A police officer and dog patrol School and Walnut streets in Watertown, Mass.
  • Police officers search for a suspect on the run in Watertown, Mass. A Massachusetts Institute of Technology campus police officer was shot and killed late Thursday night at the school's campus in Cambridge.
  • Police officers search a trash bin in the area of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology early Friday morning in Cambridge, Mass.
  • A Boston police officer secures a Watertown, Mass., neighborhood as a search for the second of two suspects wanted in the Boston Marathon bombings is underway.
  • A truck carrying police arrives at the Watertown, Mass., on Friday as the search continues for suspect number two in the Boston Marathon bombings on April 15.
  • The FBI released this image on April 19 of two suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing walk near the marathon finish line on April 15 in Boston. Suspect one, right, now identified as Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, was killed after a shooting incident late Thursday. His brother, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, in the white cap, was being sought.
  • This surveillance photo released via Twitter by the Boston Police shows the second Boston Marathon shooting suspect entering a convenience store.
  • Police officers aim their weapons in Watertown, Mass.
  • Police with guns drawn search for a suspect in Watertown, Mass.
  • Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis speaks during a media briefing in the parking lot of the Watertown Mall on Friday in Watertown, Mass.
  • Boston Police mobilize in the parking lot of the Watertown Mall early Friday in Watertown, Mass. An MIT officer was shot and killed late Thursday night at the school's campus in Cambridge. A short time later, police reported exchanging gunfire with alleged carjackers in Watertown, a city near Cambridge. One suspect has been killed, and the police are seeking another -- believed to be the man in the white cap suspected in the Boston Marathon bombing.
  • Police walk down School and Walnut streets Friday morning in Watertown, Mass.
  • A police officers rides on the back of a van at a staging area as a manhunt is conducted for a suspect Friday in Watertown, Mass.
The Lowell Sun reported that Tamerlan Tsarnaev was a Golden Gloves boxer who told the newspaper that "I like the USA" after winning his first fight in 2004 in Lowell. He fought in the 178-pound novice class.
According to the Sun, Tamerlan and his family moved to the USA in 2003, hoping to start a new life after leaving Grozny, Chechnya, much of which was destroyed in the conflict with Russia. "America has a lot of jobs. That's something Russia doesn't have. You have a chance to make money here if you are willing to work," he told The Sun.
Contributing: John Bacon, Gary Strauss and Mary Beth Marklein in McLean, Va.; Melanie Eversley in Boston, Judy Keen in Chicago and Shawn Cohen of The (Westchester County, N.Y.) Journal News.
<!--iframe-->