Two explosions hit the finish line of the Boston Marathon at approximately 1:55pm Central time on Monday. At 8:00, Monday evening WGNS confirmed that 3 lives have been claimed and dozens of people were injured. The seizure of an additional unexploded device by Boston police would suggest that it was indeed a terrorist act. The suspect is a 20-year old a Saudi Arabian national. The FBI has taken over the investigation.
SendToNews offers this dramatic video of the first explosion. You can also clearly hear the second bomb going off. CLICK HERE
88 mid-state residents were running in the marathon, including 11 residents of Rutherford County. Since the start of the race, WGNS followed the progress of several Rutherford County area runners from Murfreesboro. One of those runners was Brian Coleman who works for a local Edward Jones Office. Coleman was running to help raise money for local non profit "Read To Succeed."
Coleman told us prior to the start of the race (this is the entire interview)...
Coleman finished about 5 minutes prior to the first explosion. Both he and his wife were not injured.
Our focus then turned to MTSU as we are told that one professor was running in the race. MTSU accounting professor Dr. Paula Thomas was not hurt in the explosions.
According to MTSU professor Dr. Earl Thomas, his wife Paula had made it to mile 23 of the 26.2-mile race when the explosions happened. His wife and other runners who were still on the course were re-routed by officials away from the blast areas.
Earl Thomas did not speak to his wife until several hours after the incident occured, he did however get updates from his oldest daughter who was in Boston at the race with her mother.
“She was obviously emotionally shaken,” Thomas said of his wife. “I feel better now that I know she’s physically OK."
Our story then led us to Coffee County where we are told a local coach had entered the race.
Tullahoma High School Cross Country Head Coach Chris Clemens competed in the marathon. Clemens told partner station WMSR in Manchester that he was fortunate to have cleared the finish line about 45 minutes to an hour before the bombs exploded.
Coach Clemens said it was a very sad day. He, his wife and two children stayed in Boston and were planning to fly out Monday evening.
This was Coach Clemens’ 1st Boston marathon, and he finished in a time of 3 hours 39 minutes and 53 seconds, his 3rd fastest marathon ever. Clemens also said he felt for the many people that had put in so much time and effort to participate that were unable to finish because the race was stopped as soon as the bombs went off.
If you are a relative or a loved one of one of the 11 individuals, you can check with the City of Boston to see if they are among the injured by calling the Mayor's Hotline at (617) 635-4500. Google has also released an application for both finding information on victims as well as contributing information. Click here for that application.
|
Bakaitis, Susan |
47 |
F |
Murfreesboro |
TN |
|
Bennett, Michael R. |
29 |
M |
Murfreesboro |
TN |
|
Martinez, Jessica |
35 |
F |
Murfreesboro |
TN |
|
Poston, Don L. Jr. |
47 |
M |
Murfreesboro |
TN |
|
Teal, Rosalind |
40 |
F |
Murfreesboro |
TN |
|
Thomas, Paula B. |
56 |
F |
Murfreesboro |
TN |
|
Timken, Dave |
47 |
M |
Murfreesboro |
TN |
|
Wich, Gary |
43 |
M |
Murfreesboro |
TN |
|
Wich, Steve |
49 |
M |
Murfreesboro |
TN |
|
Young, Phil |
50 |
M |
Murfreesboro |
TN |
|
Coleman, Brian D. |
42 |
M |
Nashville |
TN |
ABC News has more...
VIDEO (Warning: Contains some graphic images): See video of the first explosion here.
Source:
The Boston Globe
Jimmy Hart, MTSU News and Public Affairs
ABC Radio News
Brian Coleman, interview and FaceBook updates
Boston Marathon Information
WMSR Partner Station in Manchester, TN
Boston Police Commissioner Edward Orr Press Conference:
