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Terror Hits Boston Marathon

Got an alert on this shortly afterward. I grew up there but don't think I know anyone that would have been in the event. Finding some secondaries too, just for us. Sure looks like planned action to me.
 
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Hey guys,

I'm sticking to local news here in Boston. Here's what we know...

Twenty-nine injured, some with arms and limbs blown off.

Two confirmed dead.

If I had to play a hunch, I think it's probably a domestic nut of some sort.

First of all, it's Boston...Patriot's day.

There was also an explosion at the JFK library, POSSIBLY connected to the two downtown.

The bomb squad detonated another, and dismantled two more.

The explosions were "aimed low," meaning that a lot of the injuries are to the legs.

Police, EMTs, and other personnel responded within fifteen-twenty seconds and immediately evacuated the area. Many triage units have been set up, and Boston hospitals are taking care of the injured, including Mass General Hospital, Brigham and Women's, Beth Israel Deaconess, and Tufts.

Runners west of Massachusetts Avenue were re-routed to Kemore Square, those east of Massachusetts Avenue were re-routed to the Boston Common.

Don't forget, Boston is also a city well-prepared to handle this. The marathon route is less than two miles from the Longwood Medical area, where many of Boston's best hospitals are located: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longwo..._Academic_Area

Let's not speculate on "the news-media spit-balling about who done it" and go off half-cocked on blaming and knee-jerk restriction talk, please.
 
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Oh my, not again!

My heart goes out to you fine folks, and you should know that we "up here" have you in our thoughts and prayers!

The first options that come to mind are Muslim extremists or another T. McVeigh, but time will tell.
 
This has been dismissed as fabrication.
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It has? I haven't seen that yet. I guess we'll find out once the initial dust & confusion settles. My prayers go out to the victims and authorities who have to deal with this tragedy. As for the "people" or "person" who is responsible for this atrocity - I wish them nothing but the worst.
 
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mgchrist5 said:
It has? I haven't seen that yet. I guess we'll find out once the initial dust & confusion settles.
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It was just dismissed at a televised news conference, by the Governor, the head of the State Police, the Mayor of Boston, and the head of the Boston Police.
 
Second the motion to leave speculations in the pocket, facts will be made available. Looks like a good emergency response, events like that have contingency plans figured out, evac routes, ER bed availability etc., lots of good hospitals nearby. It bites that we train for these more often and we are just waiting for them to happen but it's where we're at for now. Thoughts for all affected.
 
There's some sophistication applied to these weapons - the fact they were aimed low, thus producing wounds rather than deaths, but the wounds being of a rather gruesome nature, ensures a good psychological impact the media will be sure to exploit; add to that the reported presence of secondaries that were apparently intended for application against first responders. Not sure why they didn't go off (thank God) - however, this kind of planning indicates a professional, someone with extensive experience not just in construction of the device but also in placement and employment. They apparently took into consideration the psychology of emergency responders when planting the secondaries that were reported to be in the vicinity of the initial blast. The secondaries may have been on timers; if that's so, then the emergency response was much quicker than the attackers felt it would be, which meant the BPD is trained well enough to scour the area of a bombing right after the blast to try to locate the secondary devices that very well may be in the area, and, if found, to get the Bomb Squad in there right away to either move them or render them harmless. Using a cell phone for activation is better, but a little riskier. The secondaries may have been fused or timed to go off as long as 30 to 45 minutes after the initial ones. Maybe in this instance "rushing" the bombing site may have saved a lot more mayhem than actually happened.
 
It's a testament to the many good folk in the City of Boston, the emergency services and good samaritans that had the courage and the fortitude to help deal with the dead and the injured in the aftermath of this despicable act. They should feel proud of themselves today.

My thoughts are with the families of those who perished and also with the many folks who were injured.
 
It was just dismissed at a televised news conference, by the Governor, the head of the State Police, the Mayor of Boston, and the head of the Boston Police.
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A pity. Now back to square one. As of this morning, the authorities apparently have searched the apartment of a 'person of interest'. The net is closing in...
 
A sad, sad time.... I grew up outside Boston, and went to college right near where this happened. I've walked the streets all around that area. Hits close to home for me....:kilroy:
 
The dr's that treated the injured are having a news conference at this time. One dr reported the fragments he observed in the victims' wounds consisted of a few he described as "environmental' (probably frags of the trash containers) but the majority of them were either pellets or nails or objects that resembled nails. So - we have someone with access to a high-order explosive with a significant gas-expansion rate who knew enough to stuff the thing with nails and pellets to produce shredding or fragmentation wounds (very difficult to repair), fashion it into a type of aimable lens, and then aim it low - sort of a Claymore mine. This has been seen many times in the Middle East, IQ and AF - also used by the IRA.

My understanding of NY's parade precautions (applicable to a marathon, don't you think?) are the PD removes all trash containers from the parade route, plus arranges to have manhole covers along the route welded shut a few days prior. I'm sure there are others (concealed 24-hour observers, for one thing) that are used that aren't discussed publicly.
 
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