REPORT: Obama calls Boston bombings an "act of terror," suspect unknown

President Barack Obama called the Boston bombings an "act of terror" on Tuesday, but said it is not clear yet whether the twin blasts were the work of a foreign or domestic group or a "malevolent individual."
  
In an appearance in the White House briefing room, Obama urged Americans to be vigilant and to watch for suspicious activity a day after two explosions rocked the finish line of the Boston Marathon, killing at least three people and wounding scores more.
                                                      
Police have not taken anyone into custody in connection with their investigation into Monday's Boston Marathon bombing, Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis said on Tuesday.
   
A total of 176 people were treated at area hospitals as a result of the attacks and 17 are in critical condition, Davis told a news conference.

The FBI's investigation into the bombings at the Boston Marathon was in full swing Tuesday, with authorities serving a warrant on a suburban Boston home and appealing for any private video, audio and still images of the blasts that killed three and wounded more than 170.
     
Officials said no one had claimed responsibility for the bombings on one of the city's most famous civic holidays, Patriots Day. But the blasts that left the streets spattered with blood and glass raised fears of a terrorist attack.
     
President Barack Obama was careful not to use the words "terror" or "terrorism" as he spoke at the White House Monday after the deadly bombings, but an administration official said the bombings were being treated as an act of terrorism.
         
A European security official said Tuesday initial evidence indicates that the attacks were not the work of suicide bombers.
     
The Pakistani Taliban, which has threatened attacks in the United States because of its support for the Pakistani government, on Tuesday denied any role in the marathon bombings.
    
The fiery explosions took place about 10 seconds and about 100 yards (90 meters) apart, knocking spectators and at least one runner off their feet, shattering windows and sending dense plumes of smoke rising over the street and through the fluttering national flags lining the route.
     
Blood stained the pavement, and huge shards were missing from window panes as high as three stories. Victims suffered broken bones, shrapnel wounds and ruptured eardrums.
    
Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick said Tuesday no unexploded bombs were found at the Boston Marathon. He said the only explosives were the ones that went off Monday.
    
Roupen Bastajian, a state trooper from Smithfield, Rhode Island, had just finished the race when he heard the explosions.
     
"I started running toward the blast. And there were people all over the floor," he said. "We started grabbing tourniquets and started tying legs. A lot of people amputated. ... At least 25 to 30 people have at least one leg missing, or an ankle missing, or two legs missing."
    
At Massachusetts General Hospital, Alasdair Conn, chief of emergency services, said: "This is something I've never seen in my 25 years here ... this amount of carnage in the civilian population. This is what we expect from war."
   
WBZ-TV reported late Monday that law enforcement officers were searching an apartment in the Boston suburb of Revere. Massachusetts State Police confirmed that a search warrant related to the investigation into the explosions was served Monday night in Revere, but provided no further details.
    
Some investigators were seen leaving the Revere house early Tuesday carrying brown paper bags, plastic trash bags and a duffel bag.
     
Investigators refused to give any specifics on the bombs and say, for example, where they might have been hidden or whether they were packed with shrapnel for maximum carnage, as is often the case in terror bombings overseas.     
    
Police said three people were killed. Eight-year-old Martin Richard was among the dead, according to a person who talked to a friend of the family and spoke on condition of anonymity. The person said the boy's mother and sister were also injured.
    
Police commissioner Ed Davis said 176 victims were brought to hospitals around Boston, and 17 were in critical condition. At least eight children were being treated at hospitals.    
     
The Boston Marathon is one of the world's oldest and most prestigious races and about 23,000 runners participated. The race honored the victims of the Newtown, Connecticut, shooting with a special mile marker in Monday's race.
     

AP/LBCI


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