Investigators released pictures of two suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing on Thursday, April 18, seeking the public's help in identifying two backpack-toting men photographed on the crowded sidewalk on Monday before bombs exploded near the finish line, Reuters reported.
The blasts that killed three people and wounded 176 began a week of security scares that rattled the United States and evoked memories of the September 11, 2001 hijacked plane attacks.
"Somebody out there knows these individuals as friends, neighbors, co-workers or family members of the suspects," Richard DesLauriers, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation's special agent in charge in Boston, told a news conference.
"Though it may be difficult, the nation is counting on those with information to come forward and provide it to us," he said.
DesLauriers warned the public that the men were considered armed and dangerous.
Both men carried backpacks that were believed to contain the bombs. The FBI identified suspect No. 1 as a man wearing a dark baseball cap and sunglasses. Suspect No. 2 wore a white cap baseball cap backwards and was seen setting down his backpack on the ground, DesLauriers said.
The FBI released a 30-second video of the two men, one walking behind the other, that edited together three different angles. The video appeared to have been taken from security cameras.
A picture of both men in the same frame was taken at 2:37 pm, about 13 minutes before the two explosions tore through the crowd that had been cheering on finishers of the race.
Investigators believe the bombs were made of pressure cookers packed with shrapnel. Some of the wounded suffered gruesome injuries and at least 10 people lost limbs as a result of the blasts.
Investigators hoped the men would be identifiable within hours of the release of the pictures and video, a national security official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
