The Grendel Report: 'They hurled a pressure cooker bomb as a decoy': Eyewitness of Watertown shootout describes 'firefight' between suspects and police as bullets penetrated his apartment

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‘They hurled a pressure cooker bomb as a decoy’: Eyewitness of Watertown shootout describes ‘firefight’ between suspects and police as bullets penetrated his apartment

Eyewitness saw suspects use grenades and pressure-cooker bomb
Victim held hostage for 30 minutes by terror suspects in police car chase
Residents believed bangs were fireworks when 15 shots fired in 10 seconds
Police officer and suspect killed, another terror suspect is on the loose
Pictures posted online of bullet holes in residents' homes
Watertown citizens told to stay at home and only open their doors to police

By Emily Davies

PUBLISHED:04:47 EST, 19 April 2013| UPDATED:06:53 EST, 19 April 2013

Residents have described the terrifying scenes in Watertown at a shootout between the two Boston marathon terror suspects and police, which left one officer dead.

One of the terror suspects died in hospital from gunshot wounds after police shot at a moving vehicle which was carjacked with a hostage inside.

It is believed the two suspects held a hostage for half an hour while police pursued the car to Watertown, where explosives were thrown from the car at police and gunfire was exchanged, a statement said.

Residents described hearing: 'Gunshot, , gunshot, gunshot, gunshot' in a stand off between police and two terror suspects in a shootout where one police officer and one terror suspect have died

One man described cycling towards the noises, which he thought were fireworks, but being waved back by residents who shouted it was gunfire

Colonel Timothy Alben, superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police said: 'During the exchange of the gunfire, we believe that one of the suspects was struck and ultimately taken into custody.

'A second suspect was able to flee from that car and there is an active search going on at this point in time,

Adam Healy, 31, told The Boston Globe: ‘I just heard tons of gunshots. Gunshot, gunshot, gunshot gunshot. Then I saw an explosion and saw a burst of light in the sky.'

Andrew Kitzenberg claimed on Twitter that the shootout had entered his yard on Laurel Street, and a dozen officers were outside his property.

He posted a picture of what he claimed to be a 'bullet hole through our wall and the chair on the second floor.'

Andrew Kitzenberg tweeted photos of the 'firefight' between two terror suspects and police, which he witnessed from his window in Watertown

Andrew Kitzenburg posted photos of a bullet hole in his apartment which penetrated the wall and his roommate's chair as police and terror suspects exchanged gunfire

He told NBC: 'I was sitting in the living room and started hearing gunfire outside our apartment. I went to the window and saw two people behind a black Mercedes S.U.V. and a Sedan right next to it.

'About 70 or 80 yards down the street was six police vehicles. They were engaged in gunfire for a few minutes, they were also utilising bombs and what looked like grenades and a pressure cooker bomb.

'It was a firefight. There was a long exchange of gunfire and shooters had hand guns.'

He described how the fight came to a climax when one of the suspects was 'taken down' and the other escaped in a car.

'The Sedan was parked easterly on Laurel Street and the S.U.V. to the west, separated by 10ft. They were in between to two cars taking cover behind the Mercedes shooting westwards.

'When they utilised their larger bomb they threw it towards the officers as a decoy. It covered the street with smoke.

'One ran towards the cops, the other one got back into the S.U.V. The one running towards the officers was taken down.

'The second shooter got into the S.U.V, turned it around and went full speed towards the police officers, went through the middle between the cop cars taking off the doors and breaking through.'

Peter Jennings, 33, said he woke to the sound of an explosion just before 1am at home on Prentiss Street in Watertown.

‘It sounded like a stick of dynamite went off. I looked out the window, and it was like nothing I’ve ever seen – blue light after blue light after blue light.’

He said the air smelled like ‘at the end of a fireworks show, like a wick smell.’

‘I had a bad feeling because of what happened on Monday,’ he added.

Reports of more than 36 emergency vehicles with sirens blaring were heading down Route 16 West.

John Antonucci said told his 79-year-old mother to stay inside her house as she witnessed the shootout from her window.

‘She was saying they’re running down the street shooting,' she said.

'She was crying so hard I couldn’t understand what she was talking about.’

A man was ordered by armed police officers to stay on the ground in Watertown, Massachusetts following the shooting of a police officer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Residents of Watertown have been ordered to remain at home and to only answer their doors to police as part of the hunt for the second terror suspect

Collin Ausfeld, 26, said he was concerned for the safety of his home and his thoughts after the dramatic stand-off were: ‘I hope the apartment doesn’t blow up.’

Taxi driver Imran Saif said he had planned to cycle home and started to pedal towards sounds of what he believed to be 'fireworks'.

He said people in nearby houses started waving him back shouting that the loud noises were gunfire.

‘It just sounded like there was automatic weapons going off, and I heard a few explosions,’ he said.

‘They sounded like fireworks, mostly, big fireworks going off -- tons, I’d say. I’m really scared. When I found out it was gunshots, that just knocked the wind out of me.’

Citizens of Watertown initially believed bangs to be fireworks but realised they were in fact gunshots and explosions

Dan MacDonald, was watching TV when he heard ‘maybe five or seven’ sirens and then the noise of 15 gunshots within 10 seconds.

‘I kind of ran downstairs and came outside,’ he said. ‘They were coming from the Arsenal Street area up Bigelow Avenue. There were about 10 cop cars, they took a left on Mount Auburn Street heading toward Galen Street.’

Residents of Watertown and surrounding neihbourhoods of Waltham, Newton, Belmont, Cambridge and Allston Brighton have been instructed by the Boston Police Department to stay at home and to not answer their doors unless instructed by a police officer.

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