Spectators’ cheers turned to screams as chaos unfolded Monday at the Boston Marathon after two bombs exploded near the finish line, killing three people, and injuring more than 140.
Megan Forrest, a prospective business student to Texas A&M, participated in the marathon and finished a few minutes before the explosions.
“When it went off everyone just thought the moment was surreal,” Forrest said. “Everybody was trying to just get away. The police were coming from everywhere. Then as info got out people just got so frantic and sad and the whole town of Boston was a movie scene. People were shuffling along the roads on their smart phones, their eyes were shifty and everyone is just scared.”
Spectators and at least one runner were knocked to the ground, windows were shattered and clouds of smoke covered the street, beckoning the help of security and rescue personnel.
Authorities said the timing of the explosions may have been planned to cause the maximum amount of damage during the race – at the four-hour mark when the finishing stretch is crowded with the large amount of slow-but-steady runners and family and friends gather along the sidelines in anticipation.
The FBI has since taken charge of the criminal investigation of the explosions.
Two other explosive devices were found near the finish line and dismantled, a senior U.S. intelligence official said.
A reason for the explosions was not determined as of Monday night.
“We still do not know who did this or why,” President Barack Obama said in a press conference. “But make no mistake, we will get to the bottom of this, and we will find out who did this, we’ll find out why they did this.”
Obama also said the people responsible for the bombing will “feel the full weight of justice.”
Members of Congress said there was little to no doubt the marathon explosions were an act of terrorism.
California Republican Rep. Ed Royce, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said it was a “terrorist attack” and “yet another stark reminder that we must remain vigilant in the face of continuing terrorist threats.”