Boston official: Bomb suspect on video
Several news organizations are reporting that not only have authorities identified a suspect in Monday's Boston Marathon bombing, but that an arrest has been made.
BOSTON — A politician says investigators poring over photos and videos from the Boston Marathon bombing have an image of a man dropping off a bag containing one of the bombs, the Associated Press reports.
City Council President Stephen Murphy said Wednesday investigators saw the image on surveillance footage they got from a nearby department store. He says he doesn't know if investigators have identified the man.
Murphy says police officers involved in the probe say investigators have matched information from the surveillance footage with witness descriptions of someone leaving the scene.
Murphy says officers are chasing leads that could take them to the man. He says developing that information within the first 48 hours of the probe is a major breakthrough.
Federal officials this afternoon denied a suspect was under arrest in the Boston Marathon bombings as a bomb threat caused an evacuation of the Federal Courthouse in the city.
A law enforcement official briefed on the investigation told The Associated Press earlier in the day that a suspect was in custody. The FBI and the U.S. attorney's office in Boston said that no arrests had been made.
The official who spoke to the AP did so on condition of anonymity and stood by the information even after it was disputed. The official, who was not authorized to divulge details of the investigation, had said the suspect was expected in federal court in Boston.
According to Reuters, security officials at the Federal Courthouse ordered staff, media and attorneys to evacuate. Scores of people were seen leaving the building.
"Get away from the building. I can't stress this enough, people," a uniformed official yelled at the crowd, Reuters reported.
Boston's WCVB.com said a bomb threat caused the evacuation and "an extraordinarily heavy presence of U.S. Marshals and Boston Police arrived after the threat."
Several media outlets reported that a suspect had been identified from surveillance video taken at a Lord & Taylor store between the sites of the two bomb blasts, which killed three people and wounded more than 170.
"Contrary to widespread reporting, there have been no arrests made in connection with the Boston Marathon attack," the FBI said in a statement. "Over the past day and a half, there have been a number of press reports based on information from unofficial sources that has been inaccurate. Since these stories often have unintended consequences, we ask the media, particularly at this early stage of the investigation, to exercise caution and attempt to verify information through appropriate official channels before reporting."
CNN and other outlets initially reported that an arrest had been made, but backed off that report. Other news organizations, including NBC News, were also reporting mid-afternoon that no one had been arrested.
A briefing will be held at 5 p.m.
The identification of the suspect appears to be tied to surveillance video, particularly from a Lord & Taylor department store near the race finish line.
The news comes on the heels of several rapid developments released today.
The Boston Globe reported that an eyewitness to Monday's terror blasts provided a picture to authorities of a suspect carrying black bag at one of the bomb sites. The breakthrough came from analysis of video from a department store near the site of the second explosion. Video from a Boston television station also contributed to the progress, said the source, who declined to be more specific but called it a significant development.
CNN, citing a source briefed on the investigating, also reported authorities had a suspect.
Separately, ABC News was given photos that show a man in burned clothes fleeing from the area near the Boston Marathon finish line. According to ABC News, the pictures were shot by a Boston businessman who viewed the explosions from a nearby office building.
The photos show a man in tattered clothing sprinting from the scene immediately after the two blasts killed three people and injured more than 170 people.
"I was struck by this individual," the businessman told ABC News. "Everyone else in the photo is on the ground, bent over, holding their ears, appearing to be in shock, immobile, but this one individual is exactly the opposite."
"He's sprinting. His clothes were in tatters," he said. "They were melted off, burned off his body, so for all I know he was panicked and fleeing."
"The FBI, which is sifting through thousands of images, urges anyone with information to call 800-CALL-FBI.