Watertown police chief Edward Deveau said Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the 19-year-old suspected Boston Marathon bomber who was captured alive on Friday, killed his older brother Tamerlan by driving over him and dragging his body through the street with a carjacked SUV Thursday night.
Deveau, in an interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Saturday, said police officers were handcuffing Tamerlan, who had run out of ammunition, when Dzhokhar came at them in a carjacked SUV. Watertown officers were able to get out of the way.
The brothers were armed with pipe bombs, firearms, and explosives and had been in a firefight with officers on Thursday night after they reportedly “assassinated” an MIT police officer. Deveau said a pressure cooker bomb also went off during the firefight, causing a major explosion. The brothers threw explosives at the officers.
Dzhokhar eventually abandoned the SUV, fleeing on foot. He hid in a land-docked boat in a Watertown neighborhood, where law enforcement found him Friday evening.
According to Deveau, a person who had gone out for a walk and noticed a trail of blood leading to the boat called authorities.
When officers first arrived on the scene, Dzhokhar fired at them, and heat-sensing helicopters told law enforcement when there was movement in the boat.
After the initial “heated exchange,” Deveau said there were no more shots fired.
Based on Thursday night’s shootout, Watertown officers were afraid the younger brother would have explosives strapped to his body. Officers forced him to lift his shirt up so they could see his bare chest to make sure he did not have explosives strapped on him.