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Boston 2013 in Review: The Boston Marathon Bombing – Metro US

Boston 2013 in Review: The Boston Marathon Bombing

BOSTON - APRIL 15: Police officers with their guns drawn hear the second explosion down the street. The first explosion knocked down a runner at the finish line of the 117th Boston Marathon. (Photo by John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty Images) BOSTON – APRIL 15: Police officers with their guns drawn hear the second explosion down the street. The first explosion knocked down a runner at the finish line of the 117th Boston Marathon. (Photo by John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

On April 15, two explosions rang through the finish line of the Boston Marathon, marking the first horrific moments of a terror attack that claimed the lives of three spectators and injured more than 260. It was undoubtedly the most highly publicized news event of the year, if not the decade, within the city of Boston.

Medford residents Krystle Marie Campbell, 29, Boston University graduate student Lu Lingzi, 23, and Dorchester resident Martin Richard, 8, were killed in the explosions.

According to the Boston Public Health Commission, 264 people were treated at 27 local hospitals.

Days later, on April 18, MIT Police Officer Sean Collier, 26, was shot and killed by the terror suspects, prompting a day-long manhunt that ended with the death of suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, and the arrest of his now 20-year-old brother, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

The surviving Tsarnaev is being held in solitary confinement at the Federal Medical Center at Fort Devens.

On July 10, in a federal courtroom packed with survivors, family members, and media, Tsarnaev pleaded not guilty to 30 charges, including the use of a weapon of mass destruction.

It was the first time Tsarnaev had appeared in public since his April 19 arrest in Watertown, where he was found injured and hiding in a dry-docked boat.

Tsarnaev faces the possibility of execution if found guilty.

Thought it has been a tumultuous eight months since the Boston Marathon terror attack, its wake has seen countless acts of kindness, compassion and humanity.

The city started its healing process one day after the April 15 attack, with the formation of The One Fund. To date, the fundraiser has raised more than $70 million for bombing survivors and their families.

Support flooded in from Boston and beyond. On June 7, a British trio organized One Run across the U.S. to raise money for survivors. The relay kicked off in Los Angeles, and brought together more than 1,000 runners from across the nation. The run raised nearly $80,000 for the One Fund.

Days later, a trio of Emerson College students who coined the now famous term “Boston Strong” handed over a check for nearly $844,000, which they collected through T-shirt sales.

“It was a solemn responsibility to allocate these finite contributions across tremendous pain and suffering, but it was made lighter by the unprecedented generosity of Bostonians, of Americans, and of people around the world,” One Fund Boston administrator Ken Feinberg said after funding distribution began.

Nowhere was more reverence on display than at a massive, citizen-built memorial on Boylston Street, which drew thousands to pay their respects to the victims and survivors of the Marathon bombing. On June 25, it was removed and sent for archiving on Rivermoor Street in West Roxbury.

Mayor Thomas M. Menino called the memorial a “tremendous outpouring of support.”

“It is our hope that the respectful closing of the temporary memorial will help us all look to the future,” Menino said.

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