WAR ZONE: A woman is evacuated in Cambridge yesterday while an armored police vehicle rolls through Watertown during the tense hunt for the bomb suspect. (AP)
HIDE & PEEK: A woman (left) peers out from her Watertown home yesterday during the manhunt. Another woman (middle) is evacuated in Cambridge yesterday while an armored police vehicle (right) rolls through Watertown during the tense hunt for the bomb suspect. (AP, ZUMAPRESS.com)
The entire city of Boston spent yesterday in an unprecedented lockdown as heavily armed cops hunted the surviving marathon bombing suspect.
Armored tanks rolled through streets and SWAT teams went door-to-door as Boston — as well as outlying Watertown, Cambridge, Newton, Waltham, Belmont and Brookline — was hit with a “shelter-in-place” order than paralyzed more than 1 million residents.
The massive show of force began before dawn as authorities cast a massive dragnet for 19-year-old suspected bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev — who was finally taken into custody at about 8:45 p.m.
“I wish I could say that I’m not scared, but I’ve never been more terrified in my life,” tweeted @KennyBenjamin — one of hundreds who used social media to communicate during the frightening forced confinement.
“I fell asleep to the sound of helicopters overhead and woke up to this on my front door — whoa,” said @julianahatfield, tweeting a copy of a note left on residents’ doors by law enforcement, warning folks to lay low.
Scores of residents posted photos online, showing eerily empty streets or residents taking refuge in basements while armed officers swept their homes.
There were shots of tanks rumbling through leafy neighborhoods, and armed officers in SWAT, riot and camouflage gear, crouched on rooftops and in yards.
The manhunt shut down the city’s entire transit system and Amtrak suspended service. Motorists were ordered to stay off the road, and cabs were told to stay in their lots.
The lockdown was lifted about 6:30 p.m. last night — just 30 minutes before authorities converged on the Watertown back yard where Tsarnaev was finally captured.
All schools — including the area’s many colleges and universities — were closed.
UMass Dartmouth evacuated after putting a statement on its Web site that one of the suspects — later identified by classmates as the wanted Dzhokhar — was registered there.
The Boston Bruins postponed their NHL game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, and also suspended playoff ticket sales, slated to start yesterday, until Monday.
The Red Sox also postponed their game at Fenway Park against Kansas City.
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In Cambridge, residents were told to stay inside and brace for a “controlled explosion” at an apartment where Tsarnaev and his older brother, Tamerlan, were said to have lived.
“I had like 30 FBI guys come storm my house with assault rifles,” said Bryce Acosta, of Cambridge, who came out of his home with his hands up.
“They yelled, ‘Is anybody in there?’ ” Acosta said, before they searched his house and an adjacent shed for about 10 minutes.
“I stepped out on my front porch to a war zone,” another man posted on Facebook.
The lockdown was ordered after a terrifying Thursday night confrontation between police and the Tsarnaev brothers.
Authorities said the brothers killed an MIT campus security officer, carjacked a man and led police on a high-speed chase into Watertown before engaging in a wild shootout that left Tamerlan, 26, dead.
The younger Tsarnaev brother escaped, sparking the lockdown.
Starting at midnight, Boston University and MIT students got a series of texts from campus police, ordering them to “stay inside and avoid windows.”
By morning, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick announced, “It is important that people remain indoors and not open the door. Do not open unless there is a uniformed law-enforcement officer on the other side requesting to come inside.”
Residents holed up and watched the drama unfold out their windows and on television.
“Bullet hole in my wall from Watertown shootout,” one woman noted on Twitter, posting a frightening photo of a hole just above the bed.
“My head was there minutes before.”
“I’m seriously scared right now. Way to close to my house. (2blcks)Afraid of explosives. Everything. Be safe people,” tweeted @barrygagne.
“I should not be scared to live in my own city,” wrote one resident.
While some residents grew irritated as the manhunt dragged on, most were understanding.
“We may be under enormous stress and losing our patience but I really appreciate the endless efforts of the security forces since midnight,” noted Feyza Burak.
“Hang in there.”
With AP