The FBI and state and local police are intensifying their probe into Monday’s bombing at the finish line of the Boston Marathon, vowing a “worldwide investigation” and appealing to the public for tips and cellphone pictures that might yield clues about who was behind the horrific attack.
“At this time there are no claims of responsibility,” FBI officials said in a press conference Tuesday.”The range of suspects and motives remains wide open.”
New details are slowly emerging in the attack, which killed three and injured at least 176. Two bombs went off just before 3 p.m., shattering a festive atmosphere several hours after the legendary race began on the city’s 238th annual Patriots’ Day.Officials have determined the bombs were placed in a black nylon bag or backpack.Pieces of the bag recovered have been sent to a FBI lab for forensic testing.
An intelligence bulletin issued to law enforcement and released late Tuesday includes a picture of a mangled pressure cooker and a torn black bag, like the one seen below that was first obtained by MyFoxAtlanta.com, that the FBI says were part of a bomb.
“This will be a worldwide investigation,” Special Agent-in-Charge of the FBI‘s Boston Field Office Richard DesLauriers said at a conference, adding that investigators will go “wherever the leads take us.”
“We will go to the ends of the Earth to identify the suspects responsible for this despicable crime,” he added.
DesLauriers urged anyone who may have seen someone carrying a heavy black bag near the scene of the explosion to come forward.
It remained unclear if the bombs were the work of a homegrown or foreign threat, but in Washington, both President Obama and Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel called the attack terrorism.
“Any time bombs are used to target innocent civilians, it is an act of terror,” Obama said Tuesday morning.
Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis appealed to the public to come forward with any information or photographic evidence that might help authorities zero in on the killers.
“We’re looking to bring the individuals responsible for this heinous crime to justice,” he said.
Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick said the two bombs were the only explosive devices found in the area, discounting prior reports that more unexploded devices had been discovered.
“Two and only two explosive devices were found yesterday,” Patrick said.
Authorities had searched an apartment in the nearby Boston suburb of Revere as part of the investigation into the explosions. But the individual in question, who was initially considered a “person of interest,” has now been ruled out as a suspect, sources confirmed to Fox News.
The FBI has a lot of leads and “a lot of work to do” in the investigation, a law enforcement source said. The source said the investigation is “very fluid” and the FBI is looking at many, many people.
The Pakistani Taliban, which has threatened attacks in the United States because of its support for the Pakistani government, denied any role in the marathon bombings Tuesday.
The group’s spokesman, Ahsanullah Ahsan, denied involvement in a telephone call with The Associated Press. He
From: http://feeds.foxnews.com/~r/foxnews/national/~3/yyzW4FMBvEY/