FBI Releases Photos Of Boston Marathon Bombing Suspects, Special Agent Described The Two Suspects “Armed And Extremely Dangerous”

Yesterday, the FBI releases photos of Boston Marathon bombing suspects. The identified bombing suspects were seen carrying backpacks and walking casually among spectators before the blasts, according to a report by the Washington Post.

Officials hope that the images garnered from the huge amount of digital information they have will help the agency identify and capture the men. Richard DesLauriers, special agent in charge of FBI’s Boston division, described the two suspects as “armed and extremely dangerous.”

DesLauriers said at a Boston news conference that investigators identified one of the person of interest in the past day and that the breakthrough led to a second. He appealed for the public’s help in identifying the men,

The photos put faces on suspected perpetrators whose identity and whereabouts have been the subject of endless and usually erroneous, speculation since the remotely detonated bombs killed three people and injured 176 near the race finish line Monday.

The imagery released by the FBI, while it seemed to rule out a lone wolf, did not answer the question as to whether the bombing was a terrorist attack associated with a foreign or domestic extremist group or whether there was another, unidentified agenda.

The man identified by the FBI as “Suspect 1” was carrying what looked like a heavy dark colored backpack. The man wore dark glasses, a baseball hat pulled low, chino pants, a white T-shirt and a dark jacket. DesLaurier said he was not captured on video dropping the backpack he was carrying.

“Suspect 2” was seen wearing a white baseball hat backward and dark clothing. He was carrying a light-colored backpack and was videotaped setting down what the FBI believes was the bomb that caused the second blast outside the Forum restaurant on Boylston street near the finish line. The man then walked west on Boylston, but federal officials said he remained in the general area until the bomb went off.

The well-known restaurant was hosting a race-watching party at the time, DesLaurier appealed to people who were at the party and have yet to come forward to contact the FBI.

Both suspects looked like typical marathon enthusiasts. In the snippets of the released video, they appeared unhurried as they moved along the street. The video showed both men walking in single file in close proximity on Boylston Street a few minutes before the explosions. DesLauriers said that they appeared to investigators to be associated with each other.

The New York Times on Thursday posted a higher-resolution image of the Boston Marathon suspect on their blog, taken by David Green who after finishing the marathon walked to his friends when two bombs exploded in front of him. Green snapped a photograph with his iPhone before rushing to help those wounded.

Agents said that Green’s picture of who the FBI consider as Suspect 2 is the best they had. Green told the Times that he took the photo at 2:50:15 p.m. on Monday.