Source: Marathon bombing suspect believed located in Watertown; shots fired, pandemonium on quiet street
04/19/2013 7:30 PM
WATERTOWN — Police believe they have located the desperate 19-year-old suspect in the deadly Boston Marathon terror bombings at a home on Franklin Street in Watertown, a source told the Globe. Residents reported hearing shots fired and police racing to the area.
The source said police believed the suspect was pinned down, but no further details were immediately available. The suspect is believed to be inside a boat in a back yard of a home. The boat is surrounded, officials said.
The new developments happened less than an hour after authorities announced that the suspect had announced eluded a dragnet, abandoning a car and escaping on foot.
Residents in the area described pandemonium outside their doors.
Lisa Bontempi said in a telephone interview, “There’s a lot of shooting. ... I’m really scared. I’ve got to go.”
“We’re seeing every officer rushing to the corner. We’ve heard gunshots. We’ve got cops in bulletproof vests and an ambulance is there, with someone carrying out a stretcher,’’ said Louise Harrison Lepera, another Franklin street resident.
“There’s a lot of cops outside,” said another resident, who declined to give her name. “Oh, my God, they’re just crouched down by the cars. But I heard a couple of pops, I’m not sure what they were exactly.”
Daniel Cantor, a resident of 84 Franklin Street, said he heard “a number of gunshots” in rapid succession just after 7:10 p.m.
He estimated it to be more than 30 gunshots but less than 50 to the west of his home, which is at 84 Franklin St., toward Washburn Street. “It was the kind that I did not want to be near,” Cantor said.
Cantor said he, his wife, and two kids were hiding under a bed when a reporter called just after 7:15 p.m.
Heavily armed police had been searching a 20-block area of Watertown since about 11 p.m. Thursday night.
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