As we all know, a bomb suspect’s boat hideaway was rumbled last night as America watched the manhunt’s end live on television — and Watertown resident Dave Henneberry had no idea a simple cigarette after shelter in place orders were lifted would place his home and watercraft at the center of international intrigue.
For most of Friday night, a locked down Boston awaited news as the bomb suspect in a boat was carefully extricated. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, was confirmed to be inside the boat via some high-tech thermal imaging equipment — but Henneberry was the first to spot the subject of the manhunt shortly before sunset when he noticed a few things amiss.
Fear levels were high in Boston throughout the day Friday, before the bomb suspect’s boat hideout was discovered. After a deadly MIT confrontation in which the other suspect, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, was found to have an IED strapped to him, fears of a suicide bombing prompted some unprecedented measures — which saw millions of Bostonians staying put as the search wore on.
So imagine what must have been going through Henneberry’s mind as he spotted blood and an askew cover and upon investigating, located the man at the center of Boston’s biggest manhunt laying inside his own boat. Henneberry’s neighbor explains:
“He went up a ladder, pulled up the zip cover and thought he saw what looked like a body lying in the boat.”
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s condition after the bomb suspect was found in the boat has only been described as “serious,” but we also do not know how Henneberry’s beloved boat fared in the tense, gunfire-riddled confrontation. The image at the top of this post shows Tsarnaev as he lay bleeding in the vessel.
It’s probably safe to assume the craft, even if intact, is a key piece of evidence that won’t be water ready any time soon — and users of social media sites have suggested raising funds to replace the vessel.
After the standoff, Henneberry was said to be “ shaken .”