(NPR) After a massive manhunt that locked down most of the Boston metropolitan area, police apprehended Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, whom the FBI had identified as suspect 2 in the deadly bombings at the Boston Marathon . The Boston Police Department made the announcement in a Twitter message late Friday night.
Dzhokhar was found hiding in a boat in the back of a house in Watertown, Massachusetts. Police surrounded the house around 7:30 p.m. ET. and after more than an hour, he was apprehended. WBUR's Fred Thys reports the "19-year-old suspect was bloodied when taken into custody and is on his way to an area hospital." CNN and other media outlets reported that when police confirmed he was in custody, other law enforcement officials and neighbors erupted into cheers. The Boston Police Commissioner says the suspect was hospitalized in serious condition.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev, Dzhokhar's older brother, whom the FBI identified as suspect 1 in the bombings, was killed in a gun exchange early Friday with police in Watertown, Mass.
The two suspects, authorities initially told NPR and other news outlets, were brothers from Chechnya. Later Friday, relatives said that while the family is originally from Chechnya, the brothers lived there only briefly. The family lived for many years in Kyrgyzstan, before coming to the U.S. in the past decade.
Mass transit service in the Boston area was suspended Friday morning. So was taxi service for the first few hours of the day. Drivers were being told to stay off the streets in Watertown. Businesses there were told not to open. Boston city officials asked residents to "please go home" and not congregate at bus stops or other places. Just after 8 a.m. ET, officials said the "shelter in place" advisory had been extended to the entire city of Boston.
The dramatic series of events began to unfold late Thursday, with a robbery at a convenience store in Cambridge, Mass., and the shooting death of a police officer on the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Minutes later, officials say, an SUV was carjacked in Cambridge.
That SUV was driven to Watertown. There, authorities say, the suspects threw explosives at police and exchanged gunfire. One of the two — known as "black hat" for the cap he was seen wearing at the marathon — was critically injured and later died. The other, "white hat," whom the FBI says was seen in security video dropping off a backpack near the second explosion, fled the area and led authorities in a massive manhunt that culminated late at night.
"CAPTURED!!! The hunt is over. The search is done. The terror is over. And justice has won. Suspect in custody," the Boston Police Department tweeted. They added : "In our time of rejoicing, let us not forget the families of Martin Richard, Lingzi Lu, Krystle Campbell and Officer Sean Collier."
"We owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to all our outstanding law enforcement officials," President Obama said on Friday night.
Obama then went on to remember the MIT officer killed during the course of the manhunt and went on to mention the three people who were killed during the bombings.
"Tonight there are still many unanswered questions," Obama said. Among them, he said, why would a young person, who grew up in the United States "resort to such violence." Also: "How did they plan" this and "did they have any help."
"The families of the victims deserve answers," Obama said. The wounded deserve answers."
Obama also took on the greater issues. He said whatever the bombers were trying to accomplish "they've already failed."
"They failed because we will not waiver from the character and the compassion and the values that define us as a country," Obama said.
Boston Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis says police were called to a residence in Watertown after a home owner came outside and saw blood on his boat. He picked up the tarp and saw a man covered in blood.
Police rushed to the scene, setting up a perimeter. Police and the suspect exchanged gun fire and the "hostage rescue team made entry into the boat."
The suspect, said Davis, was alive. The hostage rescue team tried to communicate with him before moving in, but he did not respond.
"The man who found him at the boat said he was covered in blood," Davis said. "We assume the injuries occurred the night before."
Col. Timothy P. Alben, superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police, said the suspect was in "serious condition."
"We're exhausted but we have a victory here tonight," Col. Timothy P. Alben, superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police said during a televised news briefing.
Mass. Gov. Deval Patrick echoed those sentiments, saying that (Friday night) is one "where we're all going to rest easier."