A manhunt that began early Friday morning in Boston continues as law enforcement searches for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the 19-year-old college student and suspect in the Boston bombings who is still at large, according to the Associated Press.
Tsarvaev’s 26-year-old brother and accomplice, Tamerlan, was pronounced dead after a shootout around 8:30 a.m. Friday.
The series of events began late Thursday night, when the Tsarvaev brothers robbed a Cambridge gas station. The men then fled to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where they shot and killed 26-year-old campus security officer Sean Collier. Police were summoned to Watertown, Mass., after gunshots and explosions were reported. Tamerlan was killed in the resulting shootout, but Dzhokhar escaped.
Police are searching Watertown, where they believe Dzhokhar is hiding.
Most colleges in the Boston area are closed today as the search continues throughout the city.
Paco Higdon, a junior at Berklee College of Music, said he had been up all night searching for information via news outlets, police scanners and the online community Reddit. He said he anticipated the search to be much shorter, but new information unravels by the minute.
“We got the call around 7 a.m. telling us to lock ourselves in,” Higdon said. “Much like Monday, I’ve done just that, so I’m not entirely aware of what it’s like on the outside of my apartment.”
Tufts University sophomore Drew Page said information has been distant from the source, but students there are trying to maintain a relaxed atmosphere. Word of the showdown in Watertown had spread through campus by mouth, according to Page.
“Last night … we watched movies and tried to do homework,” Page said. “I’m just trying to stay calm.”
Bauer LeSavage, a freshman at Boston University, describes the past 24 hours as being “surreal.” He said his university notified students of the MIT officer shooting last night. He woke this morning to messages from Boston University, and said he and other students have since been keeping up on new developments through television and Twitter.
“It is very weird to look outside on our campus. Nobody is walking around, and no cars are on the normally, traffic-filled Commonwealth Avenue,” LeSavage said. “We have also seen many pictures of inner-city Boston, where everything looks deserted.”
LeSavage said waiting for information is nerve-wracking, and it has been difficult to decipher messages from authorities and the police.
“Overall, it doesn’t feel very dangerous. Everyone has their windows open because it is the hottest day in Boston so far this year,” LeSavage said. “I can hear the occasional group of police sirens go by or a helicopter heading to Watertown overhead. From my dorm, my friends and I can see a police helicopter that was shown on the news circling over the scene where the police are looking for the suspect.”
Higdon echoed LeSavage’s description of the hollowed Boston streets.
“It’s really unnerving not knowing when you’re finally going to be safe, especially since it’s only been escalating in a period of time where I was certain everything was about to end,” Higdon said. “ The streets are practically empty, aside from the authorities.”
Yet, Higdon said the city’s drive to capture the fleeing Tsarvaev has oddly enhanced his pride in Boston.
“Nonetheless, I couldn’t love this city any more than I do now. The police and associated forces have been putting themselves on the line, and it seems most people have been complying with the requests to stay home and keeping themselves safe,” Higdon said. “I’m glad everybody I know is OK and alive, and I know everyone else is working their hardest to end this.”
Caroline Rode contributed to this report.
Anastasia Straley can be reached at stra0669@stthomas.edu.