Explosion Boston Marathon #2

[momrids6]

good eye! and it looks like the blue fleece jacket guy in the pic I posted above....wow

here is the larger pic... All sizes | DSC03129 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

 

[Gardenlady]

I thought this was a great opinion piece from a native Bostonian. Really captures the atmosphere, attitude, and yes contradictions of the city.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/17/opinion/messing-with-the-wrong-city.html?src=me&ref=general&_r=0

 

[jjenny]

here is the larger pic... All sizes | DSC03129 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

That looks like a guy in a hoodie standing in front, and not someone bending over. Certainly doesn't look nothing like the cardigan on the other man with a backpack.

 

[gia2]

good eye! and it looks like the blue fleece jacket guy in the pic I posted above....wow

This has been discussed previously in the thread. A few people thought it looked more like someone with their hoodie pulled up (and looking towards the race it looks as thought you can see their face poking out).


Considering the guy holding the backpack strangely, it could be that he didn't want people stealing anything out of it and so held it in front. The bag does appear heavy from what you can tell! I would imagine the bomb to be very heavy (the cooker and the shrapnel inside). I wonder if it'd be too heavy to hold on the forearm in this way if it was the bomber. Just a thought.

 

[dotr]

That's pretty interesting, pkz... The backpack straps appear to match up. Then again, there are so many black backpacks. I know my DH has at least two with the same black/grey strap and elastic thingy. :sigh:

Maybe we should blur faces if we post these pics in thread tho? Just a thought.

Thinking that although perp may have been carrying a bomb in a black backpack, that pack may have been placed within a different backpack, throwing off those looking for a black nylon one...

 

[Gardenlady]

I know when I use my backpack, I will often switch to holding it by hand like that when it starts to cut into my shoulders, or if I'm in a close crowd (so no one can reach into any of the outer pockets without me knowing).

 

[gia2]

Thinking that although perp may have been carrying a bomb in a black backpack, that pack may have been placed within a different backpack, throwing off those looking for a black nylon one...

Great point! It'd definitely make it much harder to identify them and at the very least would delay identification of them.

 

[jjenny]

Thinking that although perp may have been carrying a bomb in a black backpack, that pack may have been placed within a different backpack, throwing off those looking for a black nylon one...

That sounds much too complicated. He then would have to get out one backpack from another backpack-and people are going to notice something like that.

 

[Sonya610]

which gets me to another point that no one has brought up yet..
two massive pressure cookers.. could one guy even carry two pressure cookers? that would stand out like a sore thumb if its even possible. im now thinking this is more than one guy involved.. once again in my pic you can see the guy in the back pack walking with a guy in a red hat. hmmm

thoughts??

Yeah I thought about that before, plus we can assume that folks had to park quite a ways away due to the crowds so carrying in one then going back to the car for the second one would probably take a lot of time.

Do people bring a lot of stuff to those events? Like coolers and such? If so one guy could have a backpack and another bag of some sort. I wouldn't think the bombs would weigh more than 30 lbs or so each so a grown man could handle the weight.

While the pick of the techie looking white guy with the pack does look suspicious I would think the bomber might want to be wearing a baseball cap, glasses, something to help alter his appearance from different angles. Facial recognition software is used in some areas like airports (though he may not use airports).

 

[cityslick]

The key is going to be if and when they recreate the bomb, if they figure out exactly what the maximum amount of time one of these things can be 'timed', it'll really help narrow down the timeframe, perhaps down to a few hours or even minutes. The fact that there are backpacks all over the place really complicates things. Fortunately, there seems to be enough pictures where you would think there should be two that show one with and without a backpack right where the perceived bomb location is.

 

[Magnum P.E.]

Random musings;

I wonder about the timing of this. April 15 is tax day. Someone who hates government?

I have a small pressure cooker somewhere, has never been used. One could easily fit in a backpack. Two could but only if the handle was removed.

This sounds much like an IED of the type used in Iraq and Afghanistan. A returned vet who was taught about these devices by the Army? Another Tim McVey?

 

[gooniequeen]

not sure if this has been posted but found this photo of KC and her friend KR. i assume it was taken the same day of the marathon. (clothing, bag etc)

no relevance but soothes my eyes to see them so happy vs the other images i have stuck in my head.

 

[cityslick]

Random musings;

I wonder about the timing of this. April 15 is tax day. Someone who hates government?

I have a small pressure cooker somewhere, has never been used. One could easily fit in a backpack. Two could but only if the handle was removed.

This sounds much like an IED of the type used in Iraq and Afghanistan. A returned vet who was taught about these devices by the Army? Another Tim McVey?

That's what initially leads me to believe it's domestic, too many anti-government (tax day, patriots day, etc) coincidences. It sounds like this is a very crude device though, one where you can easily find how to make on the internet. I don't think military training is necessary.

 

[AbbeyR]

Poor guy! Worth reading:

The Saudi Marathon Man, New Yorker

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blo...n-man.html#commentAnchor_nyr_2000000002234628

We don’t know yet who did this. “The range of suspects and motives remains wide open,” Richard Deslauriers of the F.B.I. said early Tuesday evening. In a minute, with a claim of responsibility, our expectations could be scrambled. The bombing could, for all we know, be the work of a Saudi man—or an American or an Icelandic or a person from any nation you can think of. It still won’t mean that this Saudi man can be treated the way he was, or that people who love him might have had to find out that a bomb had hit him when his name popped up on the Web as a suspect in custody. It is at these moments that we need to be most careful, not least.

 

[corundogs]

I guess I am confused about these pictures.

To ME, it seems the victims were close to the fence/barrier. In the photo where we clearly see Krystal and her friend, and I believe the Mom who lost her son and daughter who lost a leg, they are relatively close up front. And since I think that picture was taken about 30 minutes before the bomb went off, I am going to guess that some of those people in front had moved on, and they got closer.

Something like this is a very fluid crowd situation. People are up front to watch their loved one, and once they pass, they move on. People behind them then move up.

Then in other pictures (particularly the ones that show Lens Crafters) it shows a scorch mark on the ground, but that is back near the wall. And there is NO BLOOD in those shots, so how can that be the blast site?

I am clearly confused. LOL!! But these photos aren't fitting the whole picture to me.

 

[solvinit]

yes....I do think pics like this may do more harm than good, but this is the newest making the rounds this a.m. If inappropiate, I have no prob if mods choose to delete

I disagree.

The primary value of this site is the exploration and vetting of theories and ideas around crimes. Even though this process will produce a lot of noise, the best ideas will be shared, vetted, and passed on to become starting points, not conclusions for law enforcement. We just don't know when something uncovered here will connect the right dots and become meaningful, so we should keep trying. It's the best way we can contribute.

Like it or not, these photos were taken in public at the scene of a major crime and the people shown do not have any expectation of privacy. Even if discussion of the circumstances in photos were to lead to someone being "wrongfully" questioned about the case.. tough beans. This case won't be solved by being timid with potential witnesses or perps.

Obscuring the faces materially restricts the value of the discussion and ability for people to add to the sum of observations. Take away the meat of the investigative material, and we're just a bunch of people squaking to each other about groping in the dark.

I've not seen anyone make too much out of these conjectures or present them as anything but theories, so I think the use of them has been responsible and maybe even helpful.

The FBI called for all leads, photos, video, "no detail too small". They didn't call for us to be cautious and reserved.

A better improvement for this forum would be to encourage us to stay current with the thread before posting so we're not rehashing things that have been brought up 10 times already.

 

[momrids6]

I do not know how to make the picture smaller: if you scroll down, there is a picture by S. Donner. It looks like Martin's dad and brother are in front of the fire truck. This is one of the few pictures I have seen of the second explosion.


http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2013/04/boston_marathon_explosion_we_j.html

 

[Gardenlady]

Poor guy! Worth reading:

The Saudi Marathon Man, New Yorker

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blo...n-man.html#commentAnchor_nyr_2000000002234628

Thank you. After this poor guy had his name and FB blared all over news sites yesterday, I kept trying to post quotes and articles that said he was NOT a suspect, but gave up. Or maybe the night before. Don't remember. But it is absurd to me that he would be deeme suspicious for RUNNING AWAY. Uhm, it's a bomb, maybe more are coming, most people, if they are not trained or not first responders, will run!

And being deemed suspicious for one's skin color or ethnicity... Well, I'm not even going to go there. Just makes me too angry. I don't want my state, my region becoming one of the places where you hear about folks being harassed because they have a "funny name", or "dress funny", or talk in "Arabic sounding languages" and make white people "uncomfortable". :furious:

 

[KMouse]

I just read an article in my local paper about a runner from my city who finished the race shortly before the bombs went off. Amid the chaos he walked back towards the finish line to try and find his friends.
It turned out his friends had caught the subway back to their hotel before it was shut down. This man caught a bus and met up with his friends at the hotel.

I am going to assume that the FBI has collected all the CCTV footage from the bus and subway systems. I am surprised they didn't get shut down so quick.

 

[fruity]

I disagree.

The primary value of this site is the exploration and vetting of theories and ideas around crimes. Even though this process will produce a lot of noise, the best ideas will be shared, vetted, and passed on to become starting points, not conclusions for law enforcement. We just don't know when something uncovered here will connect the right dots and become meaningful, so we should keep trying. It's the best way we can contribute.

Like it or not, these photos were taken in public at the scene of a major crime and the people shown do not have any expectation of privacy. Even if discussion of the circumstances in photos were to lead to someone being "wrongfully" questioned about the case.. tough beans. This case won't be solved by being timid with potential witnesses or perps.

Obscuring the faces materially restricts the value of the discussion and ability for people to add to the sum of observations. Take away the meat of the investigative material, and we're just a bunch of people squaking to each other about groping in the dark.

I've not seen anyone make too much out of these conjectures or present them as anything but theories, so I think the use of them has been responsible and maybe even helpful.

The FBI called for all leads, photos, video, "no detail too small". They didn't call for us to be cautious and reserved.

A better improvement for this forum would be to encourage us to stay current with the thread before posting so we're not rehashing things that have been brought up 10 times already.

The only thing I worry about is people who could possibly be suffering from situational depression (brought on by the bombing) finding out they're seen as suspects and then feeling worse. I would hate for it to be seen as online bullying. But it's a balancing act - we all want to know who did this, and at times like this it's natural to be curious and to look for answers.

Then there's the whole innocent until proven guilty thing.