Attack at the Boston Marathon

On Marathon Monday, downtown Boston experienced an attack like the city has never scene before.  2:50pm, at about the four hour mark, when the biggest concentration of runners near the end of the race, an explosion went off in a nearby building on Boylston St.  Only eight to ten seconds later, a second bomb went off. 

Runners, spectators, event staff and reporters immediately fled the area, creating a scene of hysteria.  Smoke began to flood the street of the finish line. Emergency personnel rushed onto the scene and the city began immediate evacuation within the surrounding area.  Runners who had not yet finished the race were directed to run away from the race's original route.  And Runners at mile 26 were stopped.

Lead Fox25 news anchor, Maria Stephanos, though on vacation with her family for the week, was on the scene when the bombs exploded.  A few minutes after her husband had crossed the finish line, Stephanos said that a huge explosion went off.

 "We knew that something was wrong, this wasn't a manhole. I told my kids that we had to quickly go the other way." 

So far it has been confirmed that 2 victims were killed, 23 are injured.  Many are missing limbs and have been rushed to different hospitals in downtown Boston, including Tufts, Mass General and Brigham and Womens' Hospital.

Matt Tomlin photographer for Fox25 reported from the scene, "I've never been on a battlefield before, but I imagine this is what it's like.  This is a horror show."

While reporters and emergency personnel came onto the scene, bomb investigators also rushed to began a search for anymore threatening devices.  Around 3:40pm, two more bombs were found and dismantled by the investigators. 

However, the attack was not over.  Another explosion was reported to have gone off at about 5:00pm at the JFK Library in Boston.  Investigators are trying to figure out if the explosions were linked. NEMA (The National Emergency Management Association) is reporting to have located more devices in Boston along the marathon route and urge all to, "stay home."

One of the competitors, a ten-time Boston Marathon racer said that the explosion was extremely loud.  Instead of the sounds of cheering and congratulations, there were screams and shouts of fear filling the Boston air.

"You expect to rejoice when you're done but the area was furious," said the veteran racer. "It was chaos."

This international event has been the central focus of a terrorist attack.  With millions involved in the race, people around the world are scrambling to contact their loved ones.  However, everyone in the vicinity was told to shut off all cell phones in order to prevent detonation of any more bombs that might be triggered. 

The Boston Bruins were scheduled to compete against the Buffalo Sabres at TD Garden tonight at 7:00pm.  The game, as well as many other Boston events have been canceled.  Universities and schools throughout Boston, such as Northeastern, Tufts and Boston College.

This was a planned attack.  Measures are being taken by NEMA and many others to prevent anymore damage or attacks.  The country is in a state of emergency.  President Barack Obama will make a public address at 6:10pm tonight in response to this crisis.