Boston Bombings: Monday’s Developments

People in Boston and across Massachusetts will pause for a moment of silence at 2:50 p.m. ET Monday — marking the time exactly one week before when the first of two bombs exploded near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, killing three people and injuring more than 170.

Meanwhile, the surviving suspect in the bombings remains in serious condition at Boston’s Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital. As NPR’s David Schaper reported on Morning Edition, it’s not clear yet how or when 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was wounded nor who inflicted some of his injuries. It’s possible he tried to kill himself. Sources familiar with the investigation into the bombings have told NPR that wounds to his neck and jaw area are preventing Tsarnaev from talking. But, they say, he has communicated in writing.

David added that federal prosecutors are preparing criminal and possible terrorism-related charges against Tsarnaev, and there is word of more video evidence: Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick (D) told NBC-TV on Sundaythat surveillance video shows the suspect putting down a backpack and not reacting at all when the first bomb went off.

NPR’s Dina Temple-Raston added on Morning Edition that some of the video evidence, investigators say, shows Dzhokhar slipping a backpack off his shoulder, placing it on the ground, making a phone call and walking away. The second of the two explosions, she said, appeared to happen “right where that backpack had been.”

Tamerlan Tsarnaev, Dzhokhar’s 26-year-old brother and the other suspect in the bombings, died after a gun battle with police early Friday in the Boston suburb of Watertown, Mass. The brothers allegedly killed an MIT campus police officer and seriously wounded a Boston transit police officer during a wild shooting spree that began Thursday night and lasted into the early hours of Friday.

Dzhokhar was captured Friday evening after a harrowing day when much of the Boston area was locked down as police searched for him. He was discovered in a boat that was stored in a Watertown family’s backyard. Authorities are anxious to know whether anyone else may have been involved and whether any more attacks were planned.

Investigators are also trying to piece together, NPR’s Temple-Raston added Monday, how Tamerlan Tsarnaev may have been radicalized in recent years. They’re looking to interview his wife. The Tsarnaev brothers, both Muslims, came from an ethnic Chechen family that had been living in the U.S. for about a decade. Tamerlan was a legal resident and Dzhokhar last year became a U.S. citizen.

We’ll keep an eye on developments as the day continues and update this post with the news.

Update at 10:45 a.m. ET. President Obama Will Observe Moment:

President Obama will also “observe a moment of silence in honor of the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings” at 2:50 p.m. ET, the White House says in a statement sent to reporters. He will do so in private, the statement adds.

Update at 10 a.m. ET. Wounded Officer “Shows Hopeful Signs”:

“The transit police officer critically wounded in a gunbattle with the marathon bombing suspects opened his eyes, wiggled his toes and squeezed his wife’s hand yesterday for the first time since he nearly bled to death Friday — hopeful signs for his doctors and family,” The Boston Herald writes. “Three-year veteran MBTA cop Richard Donohue remains in critical but stable condition at the surgical intensive care unit at Mount Auburn Hospital.”

Update at 8:50 a.m. ET. Tsarnaev Remains In Serious Condition.

The U.S. Attorney’s office in Massachusetts tweets that:

“According to BIDMC marathon bombing suspect remains in serious condition this morning. Releasing info at hospital’s request.”

BIDMC is Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

As Monday dawned, here were some of the related headlines:

— “Turn To Religion Split Bomb Suspects’ Home.” (The Wall Street Journal, behind a paywall)

— “Dead Suspect Broke Angrily With Muslim Speakers.” (The Boston Globe)

— “Suspects Seemed Set For Attacks Beyond Boston.” (The New York Times)

— “The Inside Story” Of The Investigation. (CBS News’ 60 Minutes)

— “Should Marathon Bomber Be Treated As An Enemy Combatant?” (Morning Edition)

Note: As happens when stories such as this are developing, there will likely be reports that turn out to be mistaken. Wednesday, for example, there were reports from CNN, the AP, WBUR and others that authorities either had arrested a suspect or were about to do that. It turned out that no one had been arrested or taken into custody. We will focus on news being reported by NPR, other news outlets with expertise, and statements from authorities who are in a position to know what’s going on. And if some of that information turns out to be wrong, we’ll update.