BOSTON — Two explosions shattered the finish of the Boston Marathon on Monday, sending authorities out on the course to carry away the injured while stragglers in the 26.2-mile race were rerouted away from the smoking site. Boston police say that (at the time of posting) 2 people are dead, 6 are in critical condition, and 100+ injured after a pair of bombs exploded near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. The Boston police have also said they found 3 more "explosive devices" that they are investigating. Another bomb also exploded at the JFK Library in Boston an hour later.
Competitors and race volunteers were crying as they fled the chaos. Bloody spectators were being carried to the medical tent that had been set up to care for fatigued runners.
"There are a lot of people down," said one man, whose bib No. 17528 identified him as Frank Deruyter of North Carolina. He was not injured, but marathon workers were carrying one woman, who did not appear to be a runner, to the medical area as blood gushed from her leg. A Boston police officer was wheeled from the course with a leg injury that was bleeding.
About three hours after the winners crossed the line, there was a loud explosion on the north side of Boylston Street, just before the photo bridge that marks the finish line. Another explosion could be heard a few seconds later.
Smoke rose from the blasts, fluttering through the national flags lining the route of the world's oldest and most prestigious marathon. TV helicopter footage showed blood staining the pavement in the popular shopping and tourist area known as the Back Bay.
"There are people who are really, really bloody," said Laura McLean, a runner from Toronto, who was in the medical tent being treated for dehydration when she was pulled out to make room for victims of the explosions. "They were pulling them into the medical tent."
"I was expecting my husband any minute," Cherie Falgoust said. "I don't know what this building is ... it just blew. Just a big bomb, a loud boom, and then glass everywhere. Something hit my head. I don't know what it was. I just ducked."
Runners who had not finished the race were diverted straight down Commonwealth Avenue and into a family meeting area, according to an emergency plan that had been in place.
Lululemon, the Vancouver-based retailer of yoga pants, just recalled a about 17 percent of its stock of stretchy bottoms because they are too sheer. In a statement titled “Black Luon Pants Shortage Expected” the company said they would work with their suppliers to get stock back as soon as possible but also noted, “We expect this issue will have a significant impact on our financial results.”
That’s tough because up until the see-through hip huggers started trickling back in from unsatisfied customers, Lululemon’s comps at stores open for a year were up 11 percent. Now they’re only projecting an increase between 5 – 8 percent.
Lululemon had been riding a recent surge in demand for women’s athletic wear, along with competitors such as Gap Inc.’s Athleta, Under Armour Inc. and even mass-market retailers such as Forever 21 and Victoria’s Secret.
Some were quick to criticize Lululemon for cheaping out on fabric as the company grew. Not so, they say. “We have used the same manufacturing partner on key fabrics since 2004. This event is not the result of changing manufacturers or quality of ingredients. We are working closely with them to understand what happened during the period this fabric was made.”
Lululemon is now offering affected customers full refunds or exchanges while also warning of an impending shortage of black yoga pants. The recalled apparel makes up 17% of the women’s pants and crop pants Lululemon sells in stores.
The death of Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher, the latest in a string of tragic NFL suicides, has left the player's teammates, coaches, family and friends wondering what could have led a man described as generous and caring to murder his girlfriend Kasandra Perkins -- the mother of his 3-month-old daughter -- and then kill himself.
Kansas City police say Belcher, 25, shot and killed his girlfriend Saturday morning before going to the team stadium and and committing suicide by shooting himself in the head as he was talking to coaches.
"When the officers arrived, when they were pulling up, they actually observed a black male who had a gun to his head and he was talking to a couple of coaches out in the parking lot," Kansas City Police spokesman Darin Snapp told ABC News Radio. "As officers pulled up, and began to park, that's when they heard the gunshot and it appears the individual took his own life."
It's not yet clear what prompted Belcher's actions, but his suicide follows those of former NFL players Junior Seau, 43, and Dave Duerson, 50, both of whom died of self-inflicted gunshot wounds to the chest in the last two years.
The suicides of Seau, Duerson and a number of other NFL players have been blamed on concussions racked up from playing the violent sport, and a condition called chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, but that may not be the case for Belcher.
Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt said today that Belcher was "a player who had not had a long concussion history," even though he was a three-time all-America wrestler and a star on the football team at his West Babylon, N.Y., high school.
