The city is being controlled by SWAT teams and an army of police as they try to keep everyone indoors by shutting down the entire public transportation system, closing schools and ordering businesses to remain closed for the day.
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority subway and commuter rail system is shut down until further notice as officials try to keep citizens off the streets following the fatal shoot out in Watertown early Friday morning that lead to the death of the first suspect.
Amtrak services in the area around Boston has been suspended indefinitely, keeping people- including 19-year-old suspect Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev- from leaving the city.
'This is a serious situation, we're taking it seriously. We're asking the public to take it seriously as well,' Governor Deval Patrick said in a Friday morning briefing.
He said that the transport systems will remain shut down until further notice.
Megabus cancelled 18 buses and other bus companies including Bolt Bus, Greyhound, and Peter Pan-that were scheduled to travel between Boston and neighboring states, changing plans for more than 1,000 passengers.
Flights into Boston's Logan Airport are still being permitted to land, but the passengers will have a lot of trouble getting into the city given the lockdown.
All public schools and 16 of the city's colleges were closed for the day.
A late addition to the list of closed universities was UMass-Dartmouth, after school officials realized that he was enrolled at the college.
'UMass Dartmouth has learned that a person being sought in connection with the Boston Marathon bombing has been identified as a student registered at UMass Dartmouth. The campus is closed. Individuals on campus should shelter in place unless instructed otherwise,' a school spokesman said in a statement.
Officials have called for businesses to remain close and are asking for their cooperation in keeping their employees off the streets. Taxi services have been suspended as well.
In some areas, cars are banned from the roads as another tact for authorities to keep control of the area. It will also theoretically help them single out Tsarnaev if he is on the roads.
Initially residents of Watertown, Waltham, Belmont, Newton, Cambridge, Alston and Brighton were specifically warned to stay inside, as they are the neighborhoods near the home of the suspects on Norfolk Street in Cambridge.
Between 250,000 and estimated 400,000 people live in those towns.
At the 8am press briefing, the shelter-in-place order was extended to include all of Boston.
Police conducted a door-to-door search in Watertown, warning that if anyone other than federal officials are seen in the area or ask to enter a home, the residents should call 911.
Governor Patrick reiterated that order at the press briefing, warning Bostonians 'not to open the door for anyone other than a properly identified officer'.
Officials are not taking the situation lightly, issuing a warning to residents that 'a terrorist that wants to kill people is in your area'.
'We're going to need the public to help us help them keep us safe,' Mr Patrick said.
'We have every asset that we could muster.'
Source : DailyMail
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