The Day That Watertown Took on The Boston Marathon Bombers

A week ago today, on April 19, the streets of Watertown's East End became a mini-war zone as Watertown Police officers battled the two Boston Marathon Bombing suspects.

During the massive shoot-out at around 1 a.m. Friday, and chase, when the suspects reportedly threw small bombs out the window of their vehicle, the first suspect, Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed.

This week, Watertown Police shared some of the details of Friday's events.

(Follow a timeline of the search for the suspects in this WBUR piece.) 

The Shoot-out

Seven Watertown Police officers faced off with the suspects at the intersection of Dexter Avenue and Laurel Street, along with officers from other departments. One, Transit Police officer Richard Donohue suffered serious injuries, but two Watertown firefighters - James Caruso and Patrick Menton - tended to Donohue and helped save his life.

(Chief Edward Deveau shares details of the shoot-out on WEEI. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3) 

While dozens of police departments, the State Police and federal law enforcement rushed into town to help the search, it was Watertown's officers who faced down two men who had already killed a police officer - MIT's Sean Collier.

Jamie Venezia, who lives about 100 yards down Dexter Avenue from the shootout, thanked the Watertown Police.

"The Watertown Police don't get enough credit. They are humble about it," Venezia said. "While Boston (Police) were out front at press conferences, and they did a good job, Watertown was the first on the scene. Watertown killed the first guy and were first on the scene with the (capture) of the second guy."

Watertown Police Sgt. Thomas Grady said WPD's officers - four on patrol and others who had been working detail assignments - were able to congregate in the East End before the suspects arrived in the Mercedes SUV they had carjacked.

"The carjacked vehicle was being tracked, so we knew it was coming to Watertown," Grady said. 

The confrontation seemingly started in a split second. The suspects were driving down Dexter Avenue and a Watertown Police cruiser passed it going the other direction.

"As soon as the officer makes the turn, the suspects made a turn onto Laurel Street and almost immediately the shooting began," Grady said.

When police located the suspects, a call went out to all the other police agencies in the area, and police began converging on Watertown, Grady said.

The second suspect, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, left the scene of the shoot-out, and police later found the Mercedes abandoned near the intersection of Spruce and Lincoln streets.

The Lockdown

Then the entire town went into lockdown. Residents stayed in their homes, businesses closed, and the streets were free of traffic, except for the dozens of police vehicles roaming town in search of the second suspect.

Just before 6 a.m. Friday, Gov. Deval Patrick asked residents of surrounding communities to also 'shelter in place,' on Friday, and decided to shut down the entire MBTA public transit system.

Watertown Town Manager Michael Driscoll said that town officials only asked for the T to stop locally.

"Our concern was what was coming in and going out of Watertown," Driscoll told the Town Council Wednesday.

Watertown Police Chief Edward Deveau thanked residents for their cooperation. Almost no one left their home, which made the search much easier, WPD's Grady said. 

"The residents of Watertown performed at the highest level, too, doing exactly what they were asked by police," Grady said.

SWAT teams searched homes in a 20-block area around the site of the shoot-out. Most searches went quietly, including that of Venezia's house, and SWAT teams reportedly were calm and courteous. In at least one case, however, law enforcement appeared to be more aggressive in its search, as shown in this YouTube video search of a home in Watertown (Patch confirmed that the home is in town but have gotten no response from residents of the home).

Some of those who wandered the streets during the lockdown were met by police wielding weapons. Arzouman Nrgeian, 59, of Watertown, was stopped by police on Arsenal Street at about 12:30 p.m. on April 19. He was arrested for disorderly conduct.

"He was found not to have weapons on him, but he kept reaching into his pockets after police told him not to," Grady said. "There was also a bit of a language barrier."

People's cooperation greatly aided the police search around the area of the shoot-out, Grady said.

"Imagine if we had 700 of those types of calls," Grady said. "Citizens should get credit for how they responded."

The Capture

The 'shelter in place' order was lifted by the governor at about 6:15 p.m. Friday. At that point, Watertown residents streamed out of their homes to enjoy what was left of a sunny spring day.

The danger, however, was not over.

Just minutes later, Franklin Street resident Dave Henneberry noticed something strange about the boat he had stored behind his home. When he went out to peek inside the boat's shrink-wrap, he saw blood — and then saw someone inside.

He called police and suddenly police cars were whipping around town again. Grady was one of the officers who headed to the Franklin Street area. Along the way he saw Watertown residents coming out of their homes, and worried for their safety.

"When we got the call to go to Franklin Street people were coming out of their houses with their dogs and their kids," Grady said. "I was yelling 'Go back in, it's not safe yet!'"

People soon got the picture.

"When we had 500 police descending on an area everyone knew it was not over yet," Grady said.

Another round of gunfire soon followed, SWAT teams arrived and not long after, police removed a bloody Dzhokhar Tsarnaev from the boat. 

People gathered at road blocks on Mt. Auburn Street at Common Street and in the East End of town. The celebration was muted at first, but quickly escalated. When word spread that police had a suspect in custody, people literally came running to the area.

Dozens and dozens of police, fire and other vehicles had converged on the area of Franklin Street for the eventual capture of the bombing suspect. As the convoy of police cars, SWAT armored vehicles, ambulances and fire engines began to leave, it turned into an impromptu celebration parade.

Watertown residents cheered those who came to protect them and to capture one of the men who allegedly bombed the Boston Marathon, killed an officer and fired at Watertown Police. They also .

On Wednesday night, Chief Deveau thanked the first responders - the police and firefighters - as well as the Department of Public Works for a job well done during the mayhem of April 19. He also credited the residents of Watertown. He told the Town Council