Summary: Monday’s narrative during the Boston Marathon bombing involves gunfire, bombs, and a brother killing his brother.
Monday brought the most intense narrative yet to the jury for the marathon bombing trial. They heard patrolman Joseph Reynolds testify about the “eight minutes of sheer terror,” when they attempted to approach a stolen SUV driven by bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev.
The shootout resembled a Hollywood movie, with the youths lofting improvised bombs and firing guns to avoid arrest.
“Tamerlan Tsarnaev got out of the driver’s side door and began shooting at my cruiser,” said Reynolds.
Regarding the two suspects, “I noticed one was bigger than the other, and they had different styles when they were throwing the devices,” said Sgt. John MacLellan. “One was throwing like a baseball.”
He further described how the pressure cooker bomb “was incredibly loud. I had to holster my weapon. My eyes were shaking violently in my head. I couldn’t see.”
Sgt. Jeffrey Pugliese described Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the older brother, charging the officers. As Pugliese fired, the man threw his pistol, striking the officer’s bicep. The man went down when tackled, and further, the suspect had been hit with gunfire. Three officers attempted to cuff him.
The situation changed when the other brother, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, gained control of the stolen SUV.
“We were wrestling with Tamerlan, and all of a sudden I could hear an engine revving,” said Reynolds.
Instead of escaping, Dzhokhar deliberately tried to ram the police, striking, and, ultimately, killing his own brother.
“Dzhokhar Tsarnaev did not have to go back and run his brother over. He actually did a three-point turn and reversed the vehicle. He could have sped off and run away,” said Boston Globe columnist Kevin Cullen. But instead he turned around and came back.
“I reached down and I grabbed Tamerlan by the back of the belt and tried to drag him out of the street so he wouldn’t be hit,” Pugliese said. “The black SUV, it was right in my face … I kind of laid back and felt the wind from the vehicle as it went by.”
Ultimately, Tamerlan was struck and hung up in the rear wheels and dragged a bit.
When the prosecutor asked Pugliese if the road were blocked forcing the SUV to go for the officers, he replied, “No. It was accelerating at a very high rate of speed.”
Tamerlan’s cause of death was later pronounced as due to “traumatic injuries” to the head and torso.