The city of Boston is virtually shut down Friday morning as authorities continue a hunt for the second suspect involved in the Boston Marathon bombings after a shootout in Watertown early Friday morning, officials said at an impromptu news conference.
“We believe this to be a terrorist,” said Boston Police Department Commissioner Ed Davis during the early Friday morning conference. “We believe this to be a man who’s come here to kill people. We need to get him in custody.”
The suspect, who was identified with a picture Friday morning as 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev of Cambridge in a Boston Police Department tweet, remains on the loose. He is considered armed and extremely dangerous.
Friday classes and activities at Boston University — along with other Boston-area colleges — were canceled.
At 5 p.m., BU was still closed for all except emergency personnel, according to a BU alert. BU Police Department officers were stationed in Kenmore Square.
Dining halls are open at 100 Bay State Road, Warren Towers, West Campus, and the Buick Street Market, said BU spokesman Colin Riley.
A request for all Boston residents to remain inside continues as authorities pursue any potential leads in the investigation, said Mass. Gov. Deval Patrick in a Friday afternoon press conference.The request was first made early Friday morning.
“We all want to thank the members of the public who have respected requests to stay indoors,” Patrick said in the presser. “We know what an inconvenience it is … The stay indoors request remains. There are continuing developments in the investigation … It remains important that folks remain indoors and not unlock the door unless there is a uniformed officer on the other side.”
Boston Mayor Thomas Menino spoke to reporters from a wheelchair at the conference.
“We’ll keep the public informed as we get the information, so be patient,” he said. “We are one city and one community … We will get through this and be a strong city as we move forward.”
MSP Colonel Timothy Alben said while the investigation is developing, no apprehension has been made at this point. Later this afternoon, authorities will conduct a controlled explosion in Cambridge.
“This afternoon, there will be a controlled explosion, if you will, by some of the explosive ordinance folks over in Cambridge,” Alben said. “That’s going to happen on Norfolk Street at a house that we secured earlier today. It’s done out of an abundance of caution and for the safety of the law enforcement officials over there before they proceed with a search of that premises … We’ve got several other leads that just developed in the last few minutes, so we’re working on that.”
All MBTA public transportation service has been halted, according to a BU Alert Service message.
BU Dining Services delivered continental breakfasts to Myles Standish Hall, Shelton Hall, The Towers and Danielsen Hall, according to a Dining Services tweet at 9:03 a.m.
All campus events are canceled Friday, including this weekend’s open house for admitted students.
This comes after a night of chaos that began when the suspect robbed a 7-11 and shot and killed a Massachusetts Institute of Technology Police Department officer, said Massachusetts State Police Colonel Timothy Alben at the conference.
“What we’re looking for right now is a suspect consistent with the description of suspect number two, the white capped individual, who was involved in Monday’s bombing of the Boston Marathon,” Alben said. “We have a video from the 7-11 in Cambridge last night that he is dressed in a gray hoodie-type sweatshirt. He is a light-skinned or Caucasian male with longer brown curly hair.”
The MIT Police officer was later identified as Sean A. Collier in an MSP tweet at 11:19 a.m. Friday.
The suspects stole a Mercedes-Benz vehicle in Cambridge, leading to a massive car chase out to Watertown, where a violent battle between the suspects and dozens of police officers ensued in which the suspects apparently used guns and explosives.
“An MBTA [Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority] officer was struck in that exchange of gunfire and is currently in the [Mount] Auburn Hospital in critical condition,” Alben said.
The MBTA officer was then later identified as Richard H. Donohue by the MBTA Transit Police.
Suspect one, as the FBI identified him with images in a Thursday press conference, was wounded and taken into custody. He was later pronounced dead. Media reports identify him as Tamerlan Tsarnaev, Dzhokhar’s older brother.
College of Communication freshman Shannon Chipman said she and her friends watched dozens of police officers pour into Cambridge and then speed west toward Watertown as the situation unfolded.
“We were upstairs in Shelton Hall and we watched all of the police cars speed to MIT,” she said. “After a while, it seemed to calm down and we saw them all speed toward West Campus. It all happened really fast, all of these police cars came out of nowhere. I’ve never seen so many police cars speeding by … It was unreal.”
Riley said Boston University Police Department officers have been assisting other law enforcement agencies in addition to patrolling campus.
“These people have their lives on the line,” he said. “Our officers went over to MIT to assist … Our officers were on the scene. It makes you realize what a difficult and important job they have.”
Melissa Adan contributed reporting to this article.
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