A 29-year-old restaurant manager from suburban Boston and an 8-year-old boy from the city’s Dorchester neighborhood were identified today as two of the three people killed in the Boston Marathon bombings.
Krystle Campbell, from Medford, Mass., was among three people killed in twin blasts yesterday, loved ones said.
Martin Richard, 8, was a spectator when he was killed by the attack that also injured his mom and sister.
The third victim was a Chinese national and grad student at Boston University, authorities said.
The Chinese Consulate in New York said one Chinese student was injured and another died in the blast.
The official Chinese news agency Xinhua reported that relatives have requested that the deceased not be identified.
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Campbell was a restaurant manager who enjoyed going to the marathon every year, family members said. She was at this year’s race with her best friend to take a picture of her boyfriend as he crossed the finish line.
Adding to the family’s heartbreak, Campbell’s loved ones were initially told she had survived the blast. But when family members went to the hospital yesterday, they realized Campbell’s pal had been mistakenly identified as her.
“They told the family Krystle was in this bed and it wasn’t her. It was her friend,” grandmother Lillian Campbell told The Post. “They thought she was OK, but it turns out she passed on.”
The FBI finally called Campbell’s loved ones today and they identified a picture of her.
“They’re just viewing the body now. And we’re just devastated,” Liese Reilly, a relative of Krystle’s, told The Post. “I can’t even begin to understand what just happened.”
Devastated dad William Campbell said his daughter was “very caring, very loving person, and was daddy’s little girl.”
“Mr. Campbell said that she certainly was a dream daughter, the daughter that every father dreams to have and friends of hers said that she was eager about life,” Medford Mayor Michael McGlynn said.
“She had a great sense of humor and freckles and red hair that brought her right to her Irish roots. She was someone who worked hard at everything she did.”
Campbell never had a problem speaking her mind, and friends loved her for that trait.
“Another friend said she may have been a little loud at times but it was a loudness you loved,” McGlynn said.
The twin blasts killed at least three people and injured 176 — including 17 in critical condition, authorities said today.
Martin Richard’s father, Bill Richard, confirmed his son’s death today, and said his wife and six-year-old daughter were recovering from serious injuries.
Mom Denise, and sister Jane, 6, who lost a leg, were in critical condition, neighbors said. His father Bill and older brother Henry, 12, were not harmed.
“We thank our family and friends, those we know and those we have never met, for their thoughts and prayers,” Bill Richard said in a statement.
“I ask that you continue to pray for my family as we remember Martin.”
A candle burned on the stoop of the Richards’ single-family home in Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood. The word “peace” was written in chalk on the front walkway.
“What a gift. To know him was to love him,” longtime family friend Judy Tuttle said of the little boy.
“He had that million-dollar smile and you never knew what was going to come out of him.”
Betty Delorey, an 80-year-old neighbor, fondly recalled Martin boundless energy and how he loved to climb neighborhood trees.
“I can just remember his mother calling him, ‘Martin!’ if he was doing something wrong,” she said. “Just a vivacious little kid.”
President Obama labeled the attacks “an act of terrorism” and praised Americans who “refuse to be terrorized.”
“This was a heinous and cowardly act,” Obama told the nation this morning, less than 24 hours since two bombs ripped apart Boston streets. “The FBI is investigating it as an act of terrorism.”
With details still scarce about the twin blasts at the marathon’s finish line, Obama said it’s not clear if an organization or lone wolf did this deadly deed.
“What we don’t yet know, however, is who carried out this attack or why,” the president said.
With Post Wire Services