Since two bombs exploded in Boston on Monday, killing three people and wounding at least 180 others, Boylston St. has remained closed to the public as investigators comb through every piece of debris at the crime scene. Here’s what you need to know.
1. Investigators are Intensively Searching the Boston Bombing Crime Scene
Every square foot of the impacted area is in the process of being numbered and documented for evidence. Explosive detection dogs alert investigators what area have the greatest potential for evidence collection, while others pick out shrapnel embedded in buildings and pavement. They are also looking for what’s left of at least one of the bags that held one of the bombs. One of the bombs was definitively a pressure cooker, but right now there is not enough evidence to determine if the same is true for the second bomb.
2. The Crime Scene is On One of the Busiest Shopping Streets in the World
Unlike past attacks on the United States that have taken place among office buildings and other low profile areas, the Boston Marathon bombing took place on Boston’s Boylston St., one of the busiest shopping streets in the world. The crime scene is equivalent to bombing Rockefeller Center in New York City and closing down a 10-block stretch of Fifth Ave. for almost a week.
3. Hundreds of Officials are Involved
Time reports that at least 30 ATF agents and hundreds of FBI agents are involved in investigating the crime scene, from bomb technicians to explosive enforcement officers. There are even chemists on the scene who are there to determine the chemical make-up of the explosives.
4. The Borders of the Crime Scene Have Been Covered With Tributes
The edges of the eight-block crime scene have been filled up with tributes, making a makeshift memorial honoring the victims of the bombing. American flags stretch across the width of Boylston over a vast collection of flowers, letters and other meaningful items like a pair of running sneakers and a marathon medal.
Ed Starbuck, who has become the memorial’s “unofficial manager” said that maintaining it is theraputic.
“It makes me feel a lot better,” he says. “The interactions I have with people are really incredible.”
5. The Scene Will Be Reopened Once the FBI Gives the OK
Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino
According to the Boston Globe, Mayor Thomas M. Menino announced tha the crime scene will be reopened to the public once the FBI gives the OK.
“We believe that some blocks may be ready to open more quickly than others,” the mayor said in a statement. “We are committed to working as hard as possible to reopen the entire area.”
