# Explosions at Boston Marathon **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 15, 2013, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosions-at-boston-marathon/655781 "2013-04-15T19:16:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosions-at-boston-marathon/655781/161 "2013-04-15T21:02:26Z")
> [@Lochdale](#): > > Unreal. What sort of wanker or group of wankers would do this? Dreadful for the runners and the volunteers. It appears that mainly spectators were the victims. ---
**Author:** ![MoodIndigo1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@MoodIndigo1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MoodIndigo1)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosions-at-boston-marathon/655781/162 "2013-04-15T21:03:46Z")
NY Post is the only source, it seems, that mentions 12 dead. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosions-at-boston-marathon/655781/163 "2013-04-15T21:04:16Z")
Word is that all of our running friends in Boston are OK. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosions-at-boston-marathon/655781/164 "2013-04-15T21:04:32Z")
I so do not want the perpetrator of this to be a fellow American, but it sure feels like it is. What a fucked up thing to do. Just so wrong. :(☹ ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosions-at-boston-marathon/655781/165 "2013-04-15T21:04:33Z")
Holy crap, I just saw the guy with the legs blown off on network TV, NBC. He was in the foreground of some footage they were running. I wouldn’t have even noticed if I hadn’t seen the still here. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosions-at-boston-marathon/655781/166 "2013-04-15T21:04:39Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Maybe a/the bomber got caught by a bomb that went off too soon. If it was pipe bombs or some other home made bomb I could very well believe that. It’s pretty unstable stuff. I hope that’s the case, and that they have whoever it is in custody so s/he/it can’t do any more harm. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosions-at-boston-marathon/655781/167 "2013-04-15T21:04:57Z")
> [@Jenaroph](#): > > And I’m thinking, why on earth of all people did this guy get put in a wheelchair instead of a stretcher like a lot of other people in the footage I’ve seen today? My local news just showed a clip of that guy being wheeled out, and very thankfully didn’t point out that his feet are gone. They didn’t highlight him at all, but I recognized him from this thread. The answer is that the wheelchairs were the only devices in sight at the time; they got him out of there before there were any ambulances in sight. Wouldn’t be at all surprised if there were some wheelchairs already at the end of the race for the expected injuries and exhaustion at the end of a marathon. > [@](#): > > I’m also wondering if he’s one of the two (so far) that died. ☹ ETA: Damn, 12 now, huh. NYP is the only source I can find that says 12/50. Everyone else is still around 2/22 or 2/23. ETA: I think River Hippie and I are watching the same channel. ---
**Author:** ![Reyemile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/46a35a/32.png) [@Reyemile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reyemile)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosions-at-boston-marathon/655781/168 "2013-04-15T21:06:00Z")
AP now reporting that cell service in Boston was shut off to prevent remote detonations. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosions-at-boston-marathon/655781/169 "2013-04-15T21:06:32Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > NYP is the only source I can find that says 12/50. Everyone else is still around 2/22 or 2/23. > > ETA: I think River Hippie and I are watching the same channel. The Post is probably getting these numbers from hospital sources and reporting as they go, while the networks are waiting on other official confirmations before reporting. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosions-at-boston-marathon/655781/170 "2013-04-15T21:06:35Z")
You know, if I were a terrorist, I might plan this as a precursor event. After all, Obama’s going to visit and a terrorist might guess in which hotel he’d be staying and even which room. Remember that the Brighton bomb that almost killed Mrs Thatcher was planted many months before. ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosions-at-boston-marathon/655781/171 "2013-04-15T21:06:42Z")
> [@Scarlett67](#): > > Word is that all of our running friends in Boston are OK. I’m SO glad! ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosions-at-boston-marathon/655781/172 "2013-04-15T21:07:41Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > NYP is the only source I can find that says 12/50. Everyone else is still around 2/22 or 2/23. They are also the only ones to claim they have a suspect in custody (they even go so far as to say he’s a Saudi national), so I’d take what the Post says with a \*very \*big grain of salt. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosions-at-boston-marathon/655781/173 "2013-04-15T21:08:27Z")
CNN now reporting 49 injured, some critical, in addition to the two known dead. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosions-at-boston-marathon/655781/174 "2013-04-15T21:08:35Z")
Never mind. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosions-at-boston-marathon/655781/175 "2013-04-15T21:09:05Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > You know, if I were a terrorist, I might plan this as a precursor event. After all, Obama’s going to visit and a terrorist might guess in which hotel he’d be staying and even which room. Remember that the Brighton bomb that almost killed Mrs Thatcher was planted many months before. When my hotel housed Newt Gingrich while he was Speaker of the House, they had Capitol Police there a week in advance to begin security sweeps and they required that rooms above, below and around his be left empty. I imagine the security requirements for a presidential visit are even more stringent. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosions-at-boston-marathon/655781/176 "2013-04-15T21:10:04Z")
I had two good friends running the race today. Both just reported in safe and sound, though obviously shaken. Neither had finished at the time of the explosion, though one was close. What a fucking nightmare. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosions-at-boston-marathon/655781/177 "2013-04-15T21:10:20Z")
Is Fox repeating the same thing that other Murdoch outfit is? ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosions-at-boston-marathon/655781/178 "2013-04-15T21:10:36Z")
> [@Scarlett67](#): > > By the video I’ve seen, this is incorrect; runners were still crossing at the time of the first explosion. > > Re “gun time”: that’s standard race jargon, gun or not. My error. I was typing too fast. She did say after the “last one” crossed, not the last runners. And their times were a lot slower than they expected, so they must be a little shaky that they were only a few minutes ahead of disaster. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosions-at-boston-marathon/655781/179 "2013-04-15T21:10:52Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > You know, if I were a terrorist, I might plan this as a precursor event. After all, Obama’s going to visit and a terrorist might guess in which hotel he’d be staying and even which room. Remember that the Brighton bomb that almost killed Mrs Thatcher was planted many months before. It seems unlikely that they’d want to tip off authorities like that. ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosions-at-boston-marathon/655781/180 "2013-04-15T21:10:53Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Maybe they didn’t have one on hand at that moment. And I’m sure as hell not looking at the picture. Makes a lot of sense; this guy was badly badly injured and getting him out however they could as quickly as possible had to be the priority. He’s not dressed like a runner, looks like he was one of the spectators. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosions-at-boston-marathon/655781.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosions-at-boston-marathon/655781.md?page=10)