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Authorities Conduct Manhunt For Bombing Suspect

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

We are following the dramatic events out of Boston this morning. Police are on the hunt for a person they believe was involved in the Boston Marathon bombing. And let's turn now to NPR's Jeff Brady, who is joining us from Watertown, Massachusetts. And, Jeff, remind us, that's a suburb right outside Boston where this police chase overnight ended and where residents are still staying inside because we don't know when or if this will be over.

JEFF BRADY, BYLINE: Exactly. This is a town that's seen a lot of activity tonight. Pretty unusual. Kind of a sleepy town typically, I'm told. But tonight, when we were driving in, it seems like there were police officers posted almost every block. And we saw SWAT trucks out, people with dogs out. Police are scouring this neighborhood, right now, looking for that second suspect.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

You can imagine that would be the case, Jeff Brady, given that we have a situation where one MIT police officer is killed, a transit cop has been wounded, and there was this shootout with something like grenades, some kind of explosives, being thrown out of a vehicle as police chased it, and that's only some of the events of the last 10, 12 hours.

BRADY: Right. We got a good rundown of the events from State Police Superintendent Timothy Alben a little while ago. He said about 10:30 last night, there was a robbery at a 7-Eleven, and then just a short time later, an MIT police officer was shot on the campus. As you mentioned there, he is dead - that officer is dead; I don't know if it's a he. And then there was a carjacking in Cambridge. A Mercedes SUV was taken. That car was found in Watertown by the police department. It was pursued. They went into a residential neighborhood. There was an exchange of gunfire. And some time during the course of that pursuit, that's when several explosive devices were discharged from the car and, I guess, thrown or somehow directed at police officers. In that exchange of the gunfire, one suspect, police believe, was struck, and that suspect was - they're just saying - taken into custody. A second suspect fled and that active search is underway right now.

GREENE: And this second suspect is on the loose right now, we believe. And we just heard from our colleagues that police are saying that people should consider this person a terrorist. Which, I mean, they're telling people to stay inside their homes. It must be very tense.

BRADY: It is very tense. And we're talking about, remember those photos. There was one suspect with a dark-colored hat; one with a white hat. This is the one with the white hat police are looking for now. And they're saying if you live in this area, do not answer the door. Keep your doors locked. Keep your windows closed, unless someone is a police officer. And they're just telling people do not go outside. This man is likely armed and very dangerous.

GREENE: And these are the two suspects they're talking about, we saw photos of them. Police believe those photos came from the Boston Marathon. They believe these two people were involved. One, we understand, is dead right now, and the other is this person who they believe might have been involved in the Boston Marathon bombing, was in a white hat and is now on the loose. And it sounds like it's going to be a very tense scene there in Watertown and in Boston. We'll come back to you later. NPR's Jeff Brady joining us from Watertown, Massachusetts. Thanks so much, Jeff. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

David Greene is an award-winning journalist and New York Times best-selling author. He is a host of NPR's Morning Edition, the most listened-to radio news program in the United States, and also of NPR's popular morning news podcast, Up First.
Jeff Brady is a National Desk Correspondent based in Philadelphia, where he covers energy issues and climate change. Brady helped establish NPR's environment and energy collaborative which brings together NPR and Member station reporters from across the country to cover the big stories involving the natural world.