Friday, April 19, 2013

Boston Bombing Victim in Iconic Photo Helped Identify Attackers

Bloomberg  "Minutes before the bombs blew up in Boston, Jeff Bauman looked into the eyes of the man who tried to kill him."

Boston Bombing Victim in Iconic Photo Helped Identify Attackers
 
April 18 (Bloomberg) -- Kevin Knierim, a former Federal Bureau of Investigation agent, and Larry Compton, operations manager at Forensic Video Solutions, talk about FBI's release today of pictures and video showing two men suspected in the April 15 terrorist bombing in Boston. They speak with Emily Chang on Bloomberg Television's "Bloomberg West." (Source: Bloomberg)

Just before 3 p.m. on April 15, Bauman was waiting among the crowd for his girlfriend to cross the finish line at the Boston Marathon. A man wearing a cap, sunglasses and a black jacket over a hooded sweatshirt looked at Jeff, 27, and dropped a bag at his feet, his brother, Chris Bauman, said in an interview.

Two and a half minutes later, the bag exploded, tearing Jeff’s legs apart. A picture of him in a wheelchair, bloodied and ashen, was broadcast around the world as he was rushed to Boston Medical Center. He lost both legs below the knee.

“He woke up under so much drugs, asked for a paper and pen and wrote, ‘bag, saw the guy, looked right at me,’” Chris Bauman said yesterday in an interview.

Those words may help crack the mystery of who perpetrated one of the highest-profile acts of terror in the U.S. since the 2001 assault on New York City and the Washington area, one that killed three people and wounded scores.

While still in intensive care, Jeff Bauman gave the FBI a description of the man he saw, his brother said. Bauman’s information helped investigators narrow down whom to look for in hours of video of the attack, he said.

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