Notes from a Lockdown

NYTimes Interactive Map of Watertown Manhunt Developments

Today was a payday and before I left for work I opened my computer to transfer funds.  Glancing at my Facebook timeline, I saw that there had been dramatic developments overnight in the marathon bombings story.  Yesterday afternoon, footage and photos of the bombers had been released yesterday afternoon.  Last night, the two bombers, since identified as Dzkokhar Tsarnaev and his brother Tamerlan (both of Cambridge) may have robbed a convenience store, then definitely shot dead an MIT police officer, stole a car (all in Cambridge), drove to Watertown, and engaged in a gunfight with the police in which Tamerlan was killed and another police officer was wounded.  Dzkokhar escaped (allegedly driving over his brother's body in the process) and remains at large. From MIT to Watertown the two must have driven in the vicinity of my apartment, and honestly I was uneasy about the thought of having to walk to work (the area skirts the Watertown border).  I woke Roberta to watch the news and she saw on her phone that Lesley was closed.  Hopeful, I checked my company's hotline and was relieved to learn that our Cambridge office was closed for the day.

Cambridge and Watertown, as well as Newton, Brighton, Allston, Belmont, and eventually Boston have been in lockdown since this morning - approximately one million people affected by this manhunt.  Some Watertown residents were evacuated, and the rest of us were told to remain indoors with doors locked.  All businesses were ordered closed (Dunkin' Donuts was - and this is true - asked to stay open to serve police working).  The MBTA is closed as is Amtrak lines running through the area, the line as far down as New York.  At least two license plates alerts were issued by Connecticut state police.

Our own neighborhood has been really quiet except for the sirens sounding continuously throughout the day.  Practically, "lockdown" has entailed sitting around to monitor news by television and internet.  Between 8-9am, police in Watertown had surrounded one particular house and tactical people were called in.  I thought it was all going to wrap up and I wondered whether I would be going into the office after all.  Clearly, Tsarnaev wasn't found, and this was the last time police allowed media to show their movements.

The news has been filling much of the airtime with interviews of the boys' local interactions.  The mechanic where they took their car, their fellow classmates from Cambridge Rindge and Latin (where Dzokhar was apparently a wrestling star).  Even Dzkokhar's prom photo circulated this morning:

Dzkokhar Tsarnaev, as normal teenager

I wonder what his date is thinking this morning...

Not to be pessimistic, but I'm suspicious Tsarnaev escaped Watertown, and increasingly so as the time passes.  I can't believe the firepower from the images and footages - most police officers in eastern Massachusetts and beyond were here by mid-morning, and they brought out the big guns.  But, I remember  the 2003 D.C. sniper attacks; the police literally shut-down the highway and went car-to-car, yet even then the snipers evaded the dragnet.  That Tsarnaev's campus was evacuated (UMass Dartmouth) and with the issued vehicle alerts (in Connecticut!), I suspect police are giving serious weight to the possibility he escaped.

Oddly, this morning Norwalk developed a connection to the story. Suspicious that Tsarnaev may have escaped on train, police stopped an Amtrak train at the East Norwalk train station.  It was oddly comforting to see my hometown mentioned on local news while watching developments in my current home [space] town.

Police respond to a terror suspect report aboard an Amtrak train which was stopped in Norwalk. Hour photo / Erik Trautman

My own emotions have gone from surprise about these developments to concern about having to venture out for work to joy about a surprise day off to interest in the news to (increasingly), impatience at being cooped-up.  I wanted to go to the gym.  If Tsarnaev escaped, how will long can they keep the Boston metropolitan area on lockdown?  How embarrassing would that be to call off the lockdown with Tsarnaev still as large?  Would anyone feel completely safe?  I doubt he would be able to remain hiding for long, but even a few days on edge could feel like a very long time.  This may not resolve today, and a rain storm is fast approaching.  Additional developments may have to wait until tomorrow morning.