The US police on Friday captured an ethnic Chechen teenager suspected of staging the Boston Marathon bombings after a desperate manhunt that paralysed the city and its suburbs.
Responding to a tip from a local resident, the police found Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, hiding in a boat in a suburban backyard in Watertown, wounded and weary after a gun battle overnight in which his accomplice brother was killed.
“Captured!!! The hunt is over. The search is done. The terror is over. And justice has won. Suspect in custody,” the Boston police department said on Twitter after Tsarnaev was taken away to applause from relieved residents.
People across Boston later descended into the streets to celebrate, chanting: “USA! USA!” Some climbed onto car roofs while others danced in the streets.
A neighbour alerted police after finding Tsarnaev “covered with blood” in the boat where he had taken refuge, Boston police chief Ed Davis told reporters.
Concerned that the suspect might be laden with explosives, the police said they initially used a robotic arm to lift the tarp.
A small army of police surrounded the University of Massachusetts student for a final showdown that lasted nearly two hours. Attempts to negotiate with him failed as he was “not communicating,” Mr Davis said.
“We exchanged gunfire with the suspect who was inside the boat, and ultimately, the hostage rescue team of the FBI made an entry into the boat and removed the suspect,” Mr Davis told a press conference. Once captured, Tsarnaev was rushed to a hospital, where he was in serious condition.
“We will determine what happened. We will investigate any associations that these terrorists may have had. And we’ll continue to do whatever we have to do to keep our people safe,” President Barack Obama said after the capture.
US officials said a special interrogation team for high-value suspects was waiting to question the 19-year-old.
The team planned to question Tsarnaev without reading him his Miranda rights — the statement read by the police to suspects stating their right to remain silent and have an attorney. Authorities were invoking a rare public safety exception triggered by the need to protect the police and the public from immediate danger.