‘American Manhunt: The Boston Marathon Bombing’ Ending Explained: Did the Authorities Capture the Bombers?

Welcome to the ending explained for American Manhunt: The Boston Marathon, a new documentary series coming to Netflix this week. It serves as a commemoration of the terrible terrorist attack that occurred on April 15th, 2013. Now, ten full years after the bombing, this new documentary details the events that happened after and how the authorities conducted one of the biggest manhunts the USA has ever seen. The documentary jumps between many different perspectives and gives us a glimpse of how investigations like this one are done.

American Manhunt: The Boston Marathon is directed by Floyd Russ. He and his team do a fantastic job at creating a comprehensive and easy-to-follow timeline of the events. The documentary also enriches the context around the situation by focusing on the complications many members of the investigation faced. It also goes into the perspectives of several Islamic believers who found themselves affected directly and indirectly by the event. Not many documentaries do this, so it makes this one stand out.

The following paragraphs contain spoilers for American Manhunt: The Boston Marathon. Read at your own risk.

How Did The Authorities Identify The Bombers Of The Boston Marathon?

The Boston Marathon is an institution of an event. It is traditionally held on Patriot’s Day and has been going on since 1897. Such an impressive track record has made it one of the city’s most important events, attracting people from all around the surrounding area and the rest of the country. This is one of the reasons why it also makes the perfect target for people looking to spread terror and violence among the population. Many people would be there that day, which meant there would be a lot of potential victims as well.

On April 15th, 2013, at 2:49 p.m., two homemade pressure cooker bombs detonated during the event, killing three people in the process. Many others would receive very serious injuries, and many would lose limbs because of the explosion. The day became a disaster in less than fourteen seconds, and it would change the face of the city and the perception of the event forever. Immediately after the two bombs exploded, authorities began what would become one of the most intense manhunts ever executed on US soil.

Using the most recent technology, the members of the different law enforcement institutions began to search for the guilty parties. The Boston Police Department, in collaboration with the FBI and the district attorney’s office, were all involved. The departments had very different views on how to go about the search, but thanks to a lot of perseverance and focus, developments were made quickly. Searching through thousands of video footage evidence, the authorities identified two men as responsible for the terrorist attack.

The suspects were first named Black Hat and White Hat because they wore the hats in the footage that revealed them placing the bombs just moments before they exploded. The pictures of the suspects were released online and to the public, which immediately began the search for them throughout the entire country. The FBI deemed it correct to release the pictures, but other authorities were not that keen on the decision. Either way, the pictures were released, and the faces of the criminals were now known everywhere around the world.

Did The Authorities Capture The Bombers?

Soon after the pictures of the two men were released, the tension in the air began to rise to the point where more strange events began happening, and they seemed connected to the fugitives. The two criminals killed a man, a police officer, three days after the bombings. Later that night, they also kidnapped a man with his car. The man, Danny Meng, was kidnapped, and according to his retelling of the events, the criminals told him that they had killed a police officer and that they were also the Boston Marathon bombers.

While stopping to get gas at a gas station, Meng took his chances and escaped from his kidnappers into one of the nearby stores. Once inside, he made the store clerk call 911, and the police were dispatched to the scene. Of course, when they arrived, it was already too late. The criminals were gone. However, Meng remembered the GPS serial number from his car, and the police used that information to trace the car to a nearby neighborhood. Police officers who were in the area were notified of a stolen car and went to the scene.

What the police found was something a lot more dangerous than a normal car thief. The criminals were armed, and a shooting started between the criminals and the police forces. The police officers shot hundreds of rounds, but none hit the criminals. It was lucky that the people in the houses were not hurt. The shooting ended with one of the men being tackled, but then the other man riding in a car basically ran over the other one trying to escape. The man who was run over died in the hospital and was identified as Tamerlan Tsarnaev.

By identifying Tamerlan, they could identify the other criminal as Tamerlan’s younger brother, Dzhokhar. Dzhokhar managed to escape the police, and in embarrassment, the police forces began a manhunt that ended up shutting down the entire city. In the end, Dzhokhar was found near the place where he disappeared the previous date inside a boat. He was captured alive and put into custody. Dzhokhar is now waiting for his execution, as the death penalty was dealt as the punishment for his crimes.

The end of the manhunt was celebrated across the entire city of Boston and also the entire nation. It was a victory that was felt in the hearts of the city’s inhabitants. There was still concern that the two brothers were not the only ones out there waiting to attack and that they were part of a bigger terrorist cell, but for a moment, the city of Boston could breathe in peace.