Boston marathon man hunt

The following piece was published 20 April 2013, SBS World News Australia Radio.

By Ildi Amon
Melbourne

One of the biggest security operations in American history is underway, with thousands of police searching for one of the two suspects from last Monday's Boston Marathon bombings.

The suspect being sought has been identified as 19-year-old, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, from Chechnya, in Russia.

His elder brother, Tamerlan, died after being wounded in a shootout with police in the suburb of Watertown.

Hundreds-of-thousands of people have been affected, with the large parts of Boston in virtual lock-down.

Ildi Amon reports.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was last seen at the scene of the shootout and authorities are undertaking an extensive door-to-door search for the suspect.

Boston Police Commissioner, Ed Davis, says he's armed and dangerous.

"We believe this to be a terrorist. We believe this to be a man who's come here to kill people."

Boston's public transport system, schools and some businesses have been closed.

And Massachusetts Governor, Deval Patrick, called on residents in a large part of the city to stay indoors.

"We have suspended all service on our public transit service and that will continue until we think it's safe to open all or some of that. We're asking people to shelter in place, with their doors locked and not to open the door for anyone other than a properly identified law enforcement officer. And that applies here in Watertown and at this point all of Boston."

The shootout involving the Tsarnaev brothers came after an earlier incident at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in which a police officer was shot dead.

The brothers then allegedly hijacked a car and drove it to Watertown.

As police gave chase, the brothers reportedly threw explosives out of the car.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev was still alive when taken to hospital, but died of his injuries.

Dr David Schoenfeld from the Boston Medical Centre provided treatment to one of the suspected Boston Marathon bombers.

"This was a trauma arrest, multiple injuries probably, we believe, a combination of blast, potentially gunshot. An explosive device, possibly shrapnel, thermal injury, it was pretty much throughout the trunk, it was multiple wounds. The medical examiner will be able to conclusively say that but there were signs of more than just gunshot wounds."

A massive police operation is underway in the Boston area for the second suspect, who is still on the run.

The brothers are the only suspects in the Boston Marathon bombings, in which three people died, and about 176 were injured.