The Associated Press reported this morning that the suspects came from the Russian region near Chechnya, which has been plagued by an Islamic insurgency. A law enforcement intelligence bulletin obtained by the AP identified the surviving bomb suspect as Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev, a 19-year-old who had been living in Cambridge. The Globe has learned that the dead suspect is Tsarnaev’s brother.
Most of the region’s universities — including Harvard, MIT, Boston University, Boston College, Northeastern, and Suffolk — announced that they would be closed for the day.
The MBTA’s announcement that it was suspending service left people stranded at T stops and stations across Eastern Massachusetts. Highways were jammed with commuters.
“People at bus or subway stations, we are asking them to go home,’’ Schwartz said. “We do not want people congregating and waiting for the system to come back on.’’
It was not known when the MBTA service would resume.
“We believe these are the same individuals that were responsible for the bombing Monday at the Marathon,’’ Colonel Timothy Alben, commander of the State Police, said today. “We believe that they are responsible for the death of an MIT police officer and the shooting of an MBTA police officer. This is a very serious situation that we are dealing with.’’
Boston Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis this morning said Suspect No. 2 is the person being sought by a massive collection of federal, state, and municipal police. He is believed to be the suspect who actually dropped the bombs at the race finish line.
“We believe this to be a terrorist,’’ Davis told reporters about 4:30 a.m. today. “We believe this to be a man here to kill people.”
