Editor’s note: Please see the updates at the bottom of this post. NBC now reports that Sunil Tripathi is not a suspect.
Just before 1:00am Eastern, Boston police scanner traffic broadcast the names of the Watertown/MIT shooting/Boston Marathon bombing suspects: Mike Mulugeta and Sunil Tripathi. Note: Police have not officially confirmed these names.
Tripathi’s name and photo had been floating around the Internet all day, as Reddit and other social media sleuths mused whether the missing Brown University student could be a suspect.
Holy cow, reddit was on the money. Tripathi is Brown University student who was missing/presumed dead. http://t.co/QMBMWI0Qun #Watertown
— Claire M. Biggs (@ClaireMBiggs) April 19, 2013
https://twitter.com/JonahLupton/status/325065155648053248
https://twitter.com/HeyTammyBruce/status/325143383620345856
The “suspect is running,” according to the latest scanner reports.
https://twitter.com/hellocalla/status/325140796900777984
These are new closeups of the Marathon bombing suspects provided by the FBI. http://t.co/DcvJnmaRcp pic.twitter.com/i9SxdFa5AY
— The Boston Globe (@BostonGlobe) April 19, 2013
Official: Authorities have a 20-block perimeter searching for #Marathonbombing suspect http://t.co/DcvJnmaRcp
— The Boston Globe (@BostonGlobe) April 19, 2013
As of 3:10am Eastern, Newtown PD is reportedly on a “foot pursuit.” Somebody “was chased after, possibly matching [suspect] description.” A few minutes later, scanner reports “no foot pursuit.”
Stay tuned for the latest updates from Twitchy Team.
Update 4:21am Eastern:
https://twitter.com/passantino/status/325161677958037504
The Middlesex County DA has confirmed the death of suspect number one (Mike Mulugeta):
https://twitter.com/passantino/status/325160260014858240
https://twitter.com/JK_Porterfield/status/325160605344493568
Making it official:
Middlesex DA now confirming suspects wanted in MIT police officer murder are Watertown suspects.
— Sean Kelly (@SeanKellyTV) April 19, 2013
And the officer hit during the Watertown gunfight is still alive, taken to hospital:
UPDATE: MBTA officer being treated for gunshot wound in hunt for bombing suspects
— The Boston Globe (@BostonGlobe) April 19, 2013
BPD: 2 police officers. One killed. One badly injured. Terrible tragedy. #7News
— 7News Boston WHDH (@7News) April 19, 2013
Watertown residents are being advised to stay in their homes while police conduct house-by-house, street-by-street search.
Watertown PD: Please stay in your homes. Do not come out. #7News
— 7News Boston WHDH (@7News) April 19, 2013
There’s an early-morning press briefing by law enforcement. The bottom line:
Police, on at-large suspect: “We believe this to be a terrorist. We believe this to be a man who has come here to kill people.”
— CBS News (@CBSNews) April 19, 2013
Latest pic:
NEW PHOTO: Robot searching vehicle in Watertown Mass near where potential explosives were left behind – @jraske: http://t.co/AQlhIlZeuP
— NewsBreaker (@NewsBreaker) April 19, 2013
***
Update:
NBC reported Friday morning that Tripathi, whose name was mentioned on the scanner, is not a suspect. The second suspect is still on the run, according to NBC.
https://twitter.com/StefSimanowitz/status/325192832283459584
NOT Sunil? http://t.co/UuOsDo3wa8
— Ursus, Director of Weather and Banana Programming (@AceofSpadesHQ) April 19, 2013
https://twitter.com/washburnt/status/325186879437819905
“Authorities say these people came from overseas… had overseas military training [and have] been here about a year,” NBC’s Pete Williams — the most reliable source through a chaotic week in Boston — reported Friday, citing multiple sources.
“There’s been a lot of speculation that one of these suspects is a student that went missing from Brown,” Williams said, dismissing the speculation.
The AP reports that the bombing suspects are “from Russia region near Chechnya” and lived in the United States for at least one year.
BREAKING: AP sources: Boston bomb suspects from Russia region near Chechnya, lived in US at least 1 year. -SS
— The Associated Press (@AP) April 19, 2013
NBC reportedly has the names and says the suspects are brothers.
Pete Williams has the names of the 2 suspects – they are BROTHERS. 1 of them born in '93.
— Jonathan Martin (@jmartNYT) April 19, 2013
Update:
The AP identifies the surviving suspect as Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev, 19.
***
Previous:
Reports: Watertown, Mass.-area carjacking possibly related to MIT shooting, police chase, explosions, gunfight [pics, video]
Ghouls immediately blame MIT shooting on NRA
State trooper shot, killed on MIT campus; shooter on the loose [pics]
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