Three are dead including an 8-year-old boy. More than 140 are hurt and several of them are in critical condition. These are the results of two bombings that happened at the Boston Marathon on Monday, April 15th, 2013.
More than 27,000 people ran in the 117th Annual Boston Marathon on Monday. The average finish time, or the moment when the most runners pass the finish line, is 4 hours and 18 minutes. The explosions happened just 9 minutes before that.
"I felt the vibration of the bomb going off and I knew it was bigger than just your average city sound," Claire Finley told News 8's Angie Sharp during a phone interview on Monday.
A 2004 Davenport Central Graduate, Finely lives just two blocks from where the explosions happened.
"It was scary because we were way too close for comfort," says Finley. "The streets were just wall-to-wall jam-packed and pedestrians everywhere were running away."
The bombings occurred just 36 minutes after Patches Breed, from Wilton, Iowa, finished her third Boston Marathon. Breed was one of 11 runners from the metro Quad Cities that ran in Boston on Monday.
"I finished at 3:33," Breed told WQAD on the phone. "For Boston, it was a personal record for me. Before, I've always ran about four hours. Time is of the essence."
Breed came to the race along, telling her husband and two kids to go sightseeing instead of dealing with the race crowds.
"I was like - 'I'll be fine, I'm on my own' - so they were not even anywhere near that area. Thank goodness."
But hundreds were and the moments that followed are being described as chaotic, gruesome, and horrific.
"All of the people who were there to help the marathon runners ended up helping all these victims," says Finley. "They say there are people who are missing limbs... just a bloody, bloody scene."
"I would be mad whether it was the Boston Marathon or any other event any other day of the week, just because I`m furious that somebody would even do this," says Breed.
Now the question is - Who did? Investigators are not saying much about who they are looking for. There are reports that a Saudi national with a leg wound was under guard at a Boston hospital in connection with the bombings. However, investigators cannot say he is involved at this time and he is not in custody.
President Barack Obama addressed the nation this evening, saying that whoever is responsible will be caught.
"Make no mistake, we will get to the bottom of this and we will find out who did this; we'll find out why they did this. Any -- any responsible individuals, any responsible groups will feel the full weight of justice."
Federal authorities are classifying the bombings as a terrorist attack. At least two other bombs that hadn't gone off were found by investigators sweeping the area. The unexploded devices could provide a treasure trove of information, including fingerprints, or any material that would indicate the signature of the bomb maker.