The Boston police commissioner said a second attack was likely planned to follow Monday’s bombing at the Boston Marathon.
Investigators said the number of weapons they found when left behind by suspects Tamerlan Tsarnaev and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev led them to believe that more destruction was planned for Boston, including a second attack to follow the initial bombing.
The suspects are accused of leaving two homemade bombs near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, which exploded close to 3 pm. The blasts tore through the crowd, leaving three people killed and close to 180 injured.
As investigators pored over photos and videos from the bombing, they closed in on the Tsarnaev brothers as suspects. The two caused more destruction on Thursday night and early Friday morning, leading police on a rolling gun battle in the city’s Watertown neighborhood. The two shot two police officers, one fatally.
The battle also left 26-year-old Tamerlan Tsarnaev dead, and police discovered 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev later on Friday, hiding inside a covered boat in a backyard near where the gun battle took place.
Speaking on Sunday’s Face the Nation on CBS, Commissioner Ed Davis said a second attack seemed likely given the arsenal of weapons investigators found after
“We have reason to believe, based upon the evidence that was found at that scene — the explosions, the explosive ordnance that was unexploded and the firepower that they had — that they were going to attack other individuals,” Davis said. “That’s my belief at this point.”
David added that the brothers appeared to be stocked for a longer battle with police, and possibly a second attack had they not been identified so early in the week.
“There were over 250 rounds of extended ammunition that was found at the scene. This was a five- to 10-minute gun battle that occurred there, punctuated by loud explosions,” Davis said, adding that the explosive devices were homemade.
Investigators are still no closer to learning a motive for the attack, as Dzhokhar is in the hospital unable to speak after what may have been a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the neck . While Commissioner Davis said a second attack was prevented, police are still trying to determine if the brothers had more explosives stored anywhere.