Arizona’s Speaker of the House Andy Tobin (R-Dist. 1) was distraught when he first heard of the terrorist attack that rocked the City of Boston today. Speaker Tobin stated of the senseless act, “I am profoundly saddened and disturbed by the depths of inhumanity some are willing to lower themselves to in order to achieve their goals.
Tobin said his “thoughts and prayers go out to the people of Boston as they grieve and attempt to make sense of this horrible act of violence inflicted on the innocent people of that great city,” in a statement released immediately after the news broke.
Members of the U.S. House of Representatives took a moment of silence for the victims of the blasts.
Two explosions occurred today around the Boston Marathon finish line area. Another device was found, which was purposely detonated by Boston Police at Boylston Street, according to the Boston Globe. Three people are dead including one eight year old boy. The Boston Globe is reporting that more than 100 people are being treated for injuries, citing local hospitals.
Authorities say a Saudi man, who is in the U.S. on a student visa, is a person of interest in the case. They do not know whether he was a witness, a victim, or connected to the making of the bombs themselves. He is suffering from severe burns.
Fox News reported that competitors and race organizers were crying as they fled the bloody chaos, while some witnesses reported seeing victims with lost limbs. “Somebody’s leg flew by my head,” a spectator, who gave his name as John Ross, told the Boston Herald. “I gave my belt to stop the blood.”
According to Fox, witnesses heard booms that sounded like two claps of thunder near the finish line inside the Fairmount Copley Plaza Hotel, according to multiple local reports.
The explosions occurred about 2:45 p.m., about an hour after the first runners had crossed the finish line.
Authorities say there was no “specific intelligence that the bombing was going to happen.”