Despite reports that Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev fired shots at police from the boat he was hiding in before he was taken into custody Friday, authorities confirmed that Tsarnaev actually did not have a gun on him when he was arrested.
When officials found the suspected teen terrorist hiding on a boat in a Watertown, Massachusetts, driveway Friday night, they fired dozens of rounds at the covered boat. Earlier, Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis said that shots were fired from inside the boat. Authorities also believed the 19-year-old was heavily armed, had shot at police and possibly had an explosive device.
Tsarnaev was wounded when he finally surrendered, but the FBI would also not say whether he was shot during the finale or the shootout with authorities that killed his older brother, Tamerlan. He suffered a bullet wound to the neck, head and leg and was rushed to the hospital where he is still recovering. Some authorities said at the time the wound may have come from a suicide attempt.
Tsarnaev was surrounded by a large police presence when he was arrested that included Massachusetts State Police, local departments and the transit agency. One law enforcement official described the final chaotic 30 minutes as the "fog of war," and admitted that an accidental shot may have caused other officers to begin firing.
"Law enforcement was placed in an extraordinarily dangerous situation," FBI spokesman Paul Bresson told the Washington Post. "They were dealing with an individual who is alleged to have been involved in the bombings at the Boston Marathon. As if that's not enough, there were indications of a carjacking, gunfire, an ambushed police officer and bombs thrown earlier. In spite of these extraordinary factors, they were able to capture this individual alive with no further harm to law enforcement. It was a tremendously effective outcome under dire circumstances."
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