Federal authorities released a photo of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects. Suspect One was later identified as Tamerlan Tsarnaev who died during a shootout with police in Watertown.
Credit: FBI
Nearly two weeks after being killed during a shootout with police, the body of accused Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev has been released by the medical examiner’s office.
Tsarnaev’s body was released Thursday at about 5:30 p.m., said Terrel Harris, a spokesman for the state office of public safety and security. He would not comment on who the body was released to, citing a policy not to comment on a family’s arrangements.
Harris said a cause of death would not be released until a death certificate is filed, which will not take place until tomorrow at the earliest.
Tsarnaev was killed April 19 during a shootout with police in Watertown. That gun battle left a Transit Police officer seriously wounded and more than 200 rounds of ammunition exchanged, authorities have said. Authorities have also said that as officers were subduing Tsarnaev, his younger brother and fellow suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, ran him over while fleeing from police.
Tsarnaev’s parents had said in interviews with Russian media that they were planning to come to the United State to claim their son’s body, but those plans were put on hold. Tsarnaev’s widow said through her lawyer that she would release the body to his family.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is in fair condition in a prison medical facility in Fort Devens. He faces federal charges for the April 15 bombings.
Follow Michael Naughton on Twitter @metrobosmike.
