Boston, The old guy, dead mans trigger and other unanswered questions or comments from the scanner.

I'd like to know more about a possible man in the water around 3am. They had people investigating it but I never heard any more information.

I wonder if the sandwich truck is a SWAT vehicle, on another forum it is mentioned that the two were gunning for it. Elsewhere, they mention that the older brother was killed by gunfire, and a bomb vest detonating, as well as being run over. possibly by his brother.

Streams here,

www.neogaf.com...

I can clarify 2 items here: Naked Guy and Man-on-Ground

Simple answer, they are the same guy. He was just a pedestrian walking in the area, that kinda looked the part. They stopped him and ordered him on the ground. Then, they had him stand and remove his clothing to verify he was not wired. After being cleared, he was given a towel, and sent on his way freed (there was no mention of him having his clothes returned though. (see #16 and #17 below)

Naked guy kept coming up periodically during the night here in that thread, from folks that came in and didn't know the story since they weren't up on the conversation. There was a list of events put together (starting on page 52 and about 21 items after being updated) that covered the key points of the evening at that point.

They were (updated list by me):
1. MIT police officer shot dead
2. Police respond to MIT shooting, suspects still at large
3. Unconfirmed reports of explosion at MIT, by ATS member on skype with friend at scene. !!!unconfirmed!!!
4. Male carjacked at gunpoint in black mercedes, by two, "short" middle eastern men, who held him hostage for half hour, whilst driving around
5. Middle Eastern Males talked about going to New York City, before they released the carjacking victim, who rang police
6. Car spotted at a Gas Station, where suspects sped off at speed
7. Police pursuit of vehicle
8. Suspects fire and throw "explosives" at police from Mercedes
9. Something happens (unclear) and suspects ditch Mercedes and make off in State Police SUV
10. Officer heard screaming on scanner that suspects were throwing explosives at him (lots of gunfire heard in background)
11. Suspects leave SUV and gain control over a black Camaro somehow (unclear as to how)
12. Suspects leave Camaro in Watertown on foot
13. One suspect shot and transported to MG hospital
14. 2nd suspect evades police
15. Police locate him, but are called off by OC, due to explosive packages strew in different places "Retreat retreat" was heard over the scanner
16. Police corner a suspect (white male shown on news pictures), and make him lie on the ground and strip
17. White male was just caught in the whole situation and is freed
18. 2nd Suspect still remains at large.
19. A 20 block area perimeter cordoned off in Watertown in attempt to apprehend the suspect
20. Multiple devices discovered spread across Boston. BPD Bomb squad performed controlled detonations
21. Media reports the two men are Chechen brothers, here for at least a year, possibly with some military training.

ETA:
Clarification 1 - (#4) The "Middle Eastern" phrase was used here because that was the actual description made by the man who had his car jacked. It was mentioned in his 911 call. That was the first description given to police of the jackers. So, that was repeated on the radio, since that was the only description they had.
Clarification 2 - (#9) The Police SUV was proven false later, it was the original Mercedes SUV
Clarification 3 - (#11) The black Camaro was a double-false description. First, it was reported on the scanner as a black Nissan Murano by me (post), then a mistranslation in the thread as Camaro. The initial report by an officer, in the dark, under pressure following a fire fight where "grenades" were thrown at him is understandable. It was actually a description of the black Mercedes SUV.

Originally posted by drock905
I'd like to know more about a possible man in the water around 3am. They had people investigating it but I never heard any more information.

edit on 20-4-2013 by drock905 because: (no reason given)

I was the one that heard that on the radio. I am also unsure what that was too. It was only mentioned once, and in a voice that sounded like the officer was confused and heard something in the water. For all we know it was a water rat (common in that river) or ducks mating (it starting that season now). I wouldn't put much into this at all. It did sound like a man who heard a noise, and with the heightened tensions in the dark, thought he would report it just in case.

Link to post mentioning the water

I listened to the entire "man with bomb vest" scene on the scanner. It was very intense and no doubt stressful for the officers involved. At one point a officer state "He is arching his back!" then "Possible kill switch!". Through this whole ordeal they were securring a large perimeter. Multiple robots later they did not find an explosive device, but did have EMS for this person.

Who was he? Why did EMS need to be sent in?

reply to post by captiva


the guy with a video camera taped to a poll and was talking in to it with a black bag.

just thought i should add that one as well

Thanks to those adding to the list...Some I had forgotten about...I will compile the list later today....respects to you all.

I also heard the scanner's comments about the old guy as a possible suspect, clearly stating he was 60-70 years old, with salt and pepper hair. Later he had four robots working on him, because of the possibility of some kind of explosive, he was holding some kind of device in his hand. He was "yelling and arching his back". Later there was a call for an Russian Interpreter. There was also mention of his wife in the house, I think they said they were searching his basement for explosives. Then there was the censored section. Later they mentioned a blackhawk coming to "take the body". I think there was some mention of an apology for the heart attack. I assumed the poor old guy had died. None of this was mentioned in the news coverage.
There was also a mention of a lady calling 911 saying her daughter was being held hostage by a man with a gun. Later the woman came to the door, and it seemed to be dismissed.

Originally posted by sheabutter170
I also heard the scanner's comments about the old guy as a possible suspect, clearly stating he was 60-70 years old, with salt and pepper hair. Later he had four robots working on him, because of the possibility of some kind of explosive, he was holding some kind of device in his hand. He was "yelling and arching his back". Later there was a call for an Russian Interpreter. There was also mention of his wife in the house, I think they said they were searching his basement for explosives. Then there was the censored section. Later they mentioned a blackhawk coming to "take the body". I think there was some mention of an apology for the heart attack. I assumed the poor old guy had died. None of this was mentioned in the news coverage.
There was also a mention of a lady calling 911 saying her daughter was being held hostage by a man with a gun. Later the woman came to the door, and it seemed to be dismissed.

The old guy and the robots is deff a strange one....Im sure some of the conversations on the scanner can be misconstrued, that one cant....references to him went on for over an hour.

Respects and thanks for contributing.

I think they are covering it up because they totally overdid it with the handcuffing and 4 robots etc. considering his age, and the guy died. There was a section of the scanner cut out and saying they didnt want some things made public. They'd be embarrassed if this got out. They overdoing it goes hand in hand with the overkill of the whole $330 million city lock-down to get a 19 year-old.
Also, see below, from Reddit just now, the media were told not to report on this!!!!

"What happened with the 60-70 year old guy with a possible dead-man-switch arching his back and saying no ? Why is nobody talking about that ? Did I miss something or did we just stop talking about him ?
telegoddes (2 points)
reply refresh
07:35PM
I dont have a recording, but I personally heard it on the Boston EMS scanner... "we have a guy down on the grass cuffed.... 60-70 years old, salt and pepper hair, IS wearing a device... something in his hand... behind (name of business).... requesting EOD" For several hours later, officers were reporting from the surrounding area, but I did not hear the final disposition, and am curious myself.
cedargrove (5 points)
reply refresh
10:11AM
They just stopped talking about him. I had someone who said they had a friend that worked at CBSnews who said they were told to stop talking about the old guy. I don't know, but they did shut the hell up about him pretty quick.
lumeno (2 points)
reply load replies (1)
12:37PM

Originally posted by sheabutter170
There was also a mention of a lady calling 911 saying her daughter was being held hostage by a man with a gun. Later the woman came to the door, and it seemed to be dismissed.

I heard this explained by by a policeman. The mother had received a text from her daughter about a man with a gun being at her apartment. This was misconstrued initially by the mother or by the police and it was reported that a man was in the daughter's apartment holding her at gunpoint. When officers attended they discovered the man with the gun was a security guard and he had been standing outside the daughter's apartment. The daughter had looked out the window and panicked, texted her mother who also panicked and called 911.

Tensions were running high.

I want to know about the old guy. How do you make Freedom of Information requests in America? Who would a person contact in order to ask for this information? Mind you, as an Australian, they'd probably tell me to mind my own business. Maybe an online petition?? Still, the policeman who first called that incident in, was absolutely vehement that the guy had a transmitter in his pocket and "something" in his hand, later identified as the dead man's switch. A perimeter was set up, they sent in the robots and requested another "bear" be brought around, which I remember assuming, based on a comment by police that i can't recall, was being brought in to absorb any impact from an explosion.

There was a comment asking why the FBI were going forward when they weren't supposed to. I think it was in relation to this situation but can't be 100% sure. The officer on the radio sounded pretty irked by it, though.

Don't know about that, am an Aussie too! They had closed most of the official police scanners at that time, so we weren't meant to hear that anyway, they would say. Still, we did. Wonder if any media will pick up on it?

reply to post by Krakatoa


howdy... good chronology. I meant to congrat you on your 'sit in' by the way... how many hours did it end up being for you? I was logged in for about 8 ... you stayed for the entire saga!! Big kudos

reply to post by sheabutter170


thanks... thought I was going nuts cos people were ridiculing me for suggesting or even thinking that the black hawk took something away. I definitely got the impression something was activated... (in the thread somewhere around pg 160) -> and then the hawk coming in and then leaving (that was on the live cam feed)

reply to post by Thurisaz


That was in reply to Member's who kept asking about the alleged report of the WH Situation Room being "evacuated". Which is ridiculous, as it's in an underground bunker beneath the WH, which no news reports that day indicated was evacuated.

Member's, myself included, were trying to clarify and point out that "activated" and "evacuated" sound very similar and that the word "activated" made much more sense with regard to the Situation Room, given the day's events.

Member's still kept mentioning it so I posted *activated* in reply to the repeated question.

Anybody have any new info on the following:

why did the angry cop (scotty?) say "i'm going to kill your wife" into the mic?
what happened with the "rocket" in the basement

what happened to the house with boxes with wires protruding from them, the house that an exasperated officer broke in on a conversation and said "listen, i need an FBI agent here NOW"

why did the officer tell the cop driving the car "lets just avoid downtown, just pretend to go south and then go this way"

why no reports of the middle eastern cab driver and his passengers who were cuffed on the hood of the cop car

If the "marine units" were not Boston PD or Mass state police AND were not able/willing to recieve orders from BPD or Mass state police, whose units were they?

why did the chopper pilot only have 5 mins before he was "bounced out" of the area

I think there are a few very important things to consider when trying to sort through the scanner info...

First, it was an extremely fluid situation on the ground.

Contrary to what some hysterical accounts may suggest - there was no martial law declared in Boston, Watertown or Cambridge.

This is good and bad.

Good because the PTB didn't cross that line in a situation where it would have been very justified and easy to sell to the public. Bad because it was a voluntary shelter in place...meaning there were still idiots out and about in the most engaged areas.

9000+ officers in a twenty block radius encountering unknowns have to assume everyone is a suspect until cleared. Also, that many LEOs is going to naturally make criminals not otherwise a part of the active scene nervous, remember they were going door to door to make sure the suspects were not holed up in a house. I'm quite sure some of the occupants in those houses had warrants or "things" or "situations" in their house they did not want brought to the attention of authorities and that was bound to create other - unrelated - scanner traffic.

Second, the ATS scanner thread played out in real time, at a very fast pace.

Towards the end, by the time you would hit reply to a post, when it brought you back to the thread, the thread had already progressed for several pages.

So, when reading the thread, member's should be aware that, although it's chronological, it's not necessarily sequential, which can be confusing.

Additionally, it is mixed with comments, opinion, inquiry and conjecture not just necessarily related to the scanner, but also news report, the events of the whole week and the unfolding situation at large.

It would be irresponsible for members to not be very diligent and mindful of these facts that we do know for certain when trying to sort out other facts surrounding the events in Boston.

Originally posted by kosmicjack
I think there are a few very important things to consider when trying to sort through the scanner info...

First, it was an extremely fluid situation on the ground.

Contrary to what some hysterical accounts may suggest - there was no martial law declared in Boston, Watertown or Cambridge.

This is good and bad.

Good because the PTB didn't cross that line in a situation where it would have been very justified and easy to sell to the public. Bad because it was a voluntary shelter in place...meaning there were still idiots out and about in the most engaged areas.

9000+ officers in a twenty block radius encountering unknowns have to assume everyone is a suspect until cleared. Also, that many LEOs is going to naturally make criminals not otherwise a part of the active scene nervous, remember they were going door to door to make sure the suspects were not holed up in a house. I'm quite sure some of the occupants in those houses had warrants or "things" or "situations" in their house they did not want brought to the attention of authorities and that was bound to create other - unrelated - scanner traffic.

Second, the ATS scanner thread played out in real time, at a very fast pace.

Towards the end, by the time you would hit reply to a post, when it brought you back to the thread, the thread had already progressed for several pages.

So, when reading the thread, member's should be aware that, although it's chronological, it's not necessarily sequential, which can be confusing.

Additionally, it is mixed with comments, inquiry and conjecture not necessarily related to the scanner, but the situation at large.

It would be irresponsible for members to not be very diligent and mindful of these facts that we do know for certain when trying to sort out other facts surrounding the events in Boston.

edit on 4/21/2013 by kosmicjack because: (no reason given)

I am in agreement with your comments but would state that hopefully most who are adding to this thread are in fact recalling statements heard by themselves on the scanner on the day as well as from the thread. My original list in the Op was compiled by writing what I heard on a pad when I heard it and not on the thread, apart from at the very end when the suspect had been found.

Respects

Originally posted by Thurisaz
reply to post by Krakatoa

 

howdy... good chronology. I meant to congrat you on your 'sit in' by the way... how many hours did it end up being for you? I was logged in for about 8 ... you stayed for the entire saga!! Big kudos

Thanks!

I was in the loop from 10:30pm Thursday night until his capture the following night. Since I was awake for work Thursday morning @ 7am, my total aware time, non-stop, was 40 hours total. What kept me up and involved, aside from the breaking news part of it, was the feeling of community on that thread. The raw scanner reports, by multiple people, many times repeated the same reports (which helped confirm the authenticity from different sources), for those that could not listen directly themselves. That kept more people interested, involved, and seeing how the MSM was not only consistently 20 minutes behind, but also how they consistently got things totally wrong, and still as of last night, still getting things wrong. I saw the shots of the innocent man on the ground more than one time STILL on the news when he was cleared within an hour of being detained and questioned!

Originally posted by captiva

Originally posted by kosmicjack
I think there are a few very important things to consider when trying to sort through the scanner info...

First, it was an extremely fluid situation on the ground.

Contrary to what some hysterical accounts may suggest - there was no martial law declared in Boston, Watertown or Cambridge.

This is good and bad.

Good because the PTB didn't cross that line in a situation where it would have been very justified and easy to sell to the public. Bad because it was a voluntary shelter in place...meaning there were still idiots out and about in the most engaged areas.

9000+ officers in a twenty block radius encountering unknowns have to assume everyone is a suspect until cleared. Also, that many LEOs is going to naturally make criminals not otherwise a part of the active scene nervous, remember they were going door to door to make sure the suspects were not holed up in a house. I'm quite sure some of the occupants in those houses had warrants or "things" or "situations" in their house they did not want brought to the attention of authorities and that was bound to create other - unrelated - scanner traffic.

Second, the ATS scanner thread played out in real time, at a very fast pace.

Towards the end, by the time you would hit reply to a post, when it brought you back to the thread, the thread had already progressed for several pages.

So, when reading the thread, member's should be aware that, although it's chronological, it's not necessarily sequential, which can be confusing.

Additionally, it is mixed with comments, inquiry and conjecture not necessarily related to the scanner, but the situation at large.

It would be irresponsible for members to not be very diligent and mindful of these facts that we do know for certain when trying to sort out other facts surrounding the events in Boston.

edit on 4/21/2013 by kosmicjack because: (no reason given)

I am in agreement with your comments but would state that hopefully most who are adding to this thread are in fact recalling statements heard by themselves on the scanner on the day as well as from the thread. My original list in the Op was compiled by writing what I heard on a pad when I heard it and not on the thread, apart from at the very end when the suspect had been found.

Respects

To be honest, that is why whenever I posted a scanner report, I suffixed the report with a mention of the scanner, like this: (Mass State Police scanner) or (live scanner). The Mass State Police one was a report from my cell-phone app for the local Mass State Police frequency, whereas the other was from an online live scanner feed via my web browser. Folks, fortunately, started doing that as well, to keep them reports cleanly differentiated from the conjecture ans personal opinions. That, in itself, helped clarify many things, and the members on the thread kept everyone honest by asking for sources when not explicitly mentioned.

This "experiment" really shows the birth of some conspiracies when only the MSM is used as a source. ATS members in that thread had to, on numerous occasions, clarify and debunk (in real-time) errors and statements by the MSM, as we here had more knowledge than them at every moment....and COULD clearly debunk them and STOP any unfounded conspiracies in their tracks. Will there be conspiracies, sure, but with that thread intact here, we have our own source of events to use as a research resource for future reference.

It was a great effort made by all here, and IMO should be a model for which this type of breaking news is covered here at ATS.