Details are being reported about the type of homemade explosive devices that were used in the Boston Marathon bombs, which killed three and wounded more than 170 people on Monday, April 15, 2013.
Via Washington Post:
Officials found that the bombs consisted of explosives put in common 1.6-gallon pressure cookers, one containing shards of metal and ball bearings, the other packed with nails, according to a person close to the investigation who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation was still going on. Both bombs were stuffed into duffel bags, the person said.
At a news conference, FBI agent Richard DesLauriers, FBI agent in charge in Boston, confirmed that investigators had found pieces of black nylon from a bag or backpack and fragments of BBs and nails, possibly contained in a pressure cooker. He said the items were sent to the FBI for analysis at Quantico, Va.
Pressure-cooker explosives have been used in international terrorism, and have been recommended for lone-wolf operatives by Al-Qaida’s branch in Yemen. But information on how to make the bombs is readily found online, and U.S. officials said Americans should not rush to judgment in linking the attack to overseas terrorists.
Other related news:
• The person of interest the authorities were questioning has been ruled out as a suspect and is being called a witness. (Washington Post)
• Authorities are asking members of the public to come forward with any video or photos from the marathon or anything suspicious they might have witnessed, such as hearing someone express an interest in explosives or a desire to attack the marathon, or seeing someone carrying a dark heavy bag at the race. (AP)
• Two of the three people who were killed in the bombing were identified by relatives on Tuesday: Martin Richard, an 8-year-old from Dorchester, and Krystle Campbell, 29, of the Boston suburb of Arlington. (NYT)
• Despite the perpetrators of the the bombings still being at large and unidentified and White House officials calling this an act of terror, the DHS has not issued a terror alert. (Breitbart and DHS)
Related:
Videos, photos of the Boston Marathon bombings and aftermath.