baby girl, who is name laura after her mom. the entire family is elated. that's wonderful news. >> shepard: happy monday. the news begins anew and the parent of the 15-year-old girl are speaking out about the sexual assault they said led her to kill herself. we're learning police made a new arrest in the killing of the district attorney in texas and his wife months after the shooting death. the deputy, one law enforcement officer said we can all sleep better tonight. and a very important supreme court case. centered around the building blocks blocks of human life. the legal debate over patents or genes. that's all ahead, unless breaking news changes everything. on "studio b." >> first, from fox, at 3:00 in

new york city, 15-year-old audrie potts called her mother from school last fall and asked her mom to pick her up saying, i can't do this anymore. hours later she killed herself. that's the word from her family's attorney, as we learn more about the sexual assault allegations and the photograph of that incident that had good-begun to spread. according to relatives she hanged he was eight days after a group of teenagers sexually assaulted her and after at least one photo made the text message round. the family members want to make audrie's store public. her mother said she knew her attackers and that made the crime even worse. >> it wasn't committed by strangers. it was committed by people she trusted. so, it was an ultimate betrayal. it would be difficult for an adult to deal with something like that. let alone a child. >> audrie potts' stepmother said

the girl was unconscious at the time and those men were 1 been% soberment now three teens face criminal charges in a statement an attorney for the suspect says much of what has been reported is inaccurate. most disturbing the attempt to link audrie potts's suicide to the actions these boys. that statement unfirated the family. >> the family says he did take her life, not just because of the assault but because what they say was the widespread sharing of the pictures after that assault. her own words on facebook read, the whole school knows. my life is ruined. today at an emotional news conference a short time ago her father paid tribute to audrie potts. >> most of you have only seen pictures of audrie, and you have

seen what a beautiful girl she is on the outside. she was so much more... beautiful on the inside. she was so full of life. there's know denying. >> worth pointing out that in these cases the victims are not normally nailed, but it's the families themselves who decided to take this action because they want to change the law. >> shepard: the family is pursuing civic action. >> the family's attorney announced at the same news conference they will be filing a wrongful death lawsuit against the three young men accused of carrying out the assault and

accused by the family of disseminating those pictures. the problems both with the criminal case here and indeed the civil cases, any legal expert will tell you, the family's belief that audrey pott took her life because of the assault and because of the pictures are not necessarily the fact and the facts will be the key. >> shepard: thankthank you, jon. let's talk bet criminal side of this first. these kids are underage, and the level of punishment possible here is -- >> usual live it's incarceration until they're adults. the parents, the family of the victim are asking they be treated as an adult because of the heinous nature of the crime characterization common thing to ask for. number two, if what they're saying is true, the boys were not influenced by alcohol whatsoever and, of there, they knew what they were doing.

the young -- this poor victim was drunk. unconscious. if they're stone-cold sober and committing these acts, then a judge is going to listen to whether they should take them out of juvenile court, but them in adult court, and now depending on what they're able to prove, they're able to prove straight up rape, which is complicated because she -- they lost their witness, unfortunately. these kids -- that's number one. with the civil case, they have no movement they're 16-year-old kid. so they'll have a judgment against them. what is really troubling is the students at the school are now saying this didn't go viral. that all the school didn't see all these pictures. that's one article that says ten people may have seen the pictures. it's so sad. >> a teenage girl in the middle of all this, one or two people have seen it and to her -- yates it's hard. >> seem like her life was over.

>> the boys' actions is horrible but this has been going on for a long, long, long time. it happened in any high school 30 years ago. alcohol, puberty. a bad mix. >> shepard: trying to figure out how to have a witness or how to have somebody to represent this now-dead child, that's something has to be done there. >> correct. >> shepard: arthur, thank you. we have some breaking news. we just got word -- it's boston marathon day and we just got word of not one but two explosions near the finish line of the boston marathon. these are live pictures, i assume from fox news boston, fox 26 up there, but it just happened while we were discussing this last story. our station there -- i said -- i meant fox 25, my fox boston. two explosions, and their reporter, maria, is reporting

she saw the smoke at the finish line at it happened. strangely so far we're not getting much out of boston on this. jonathan hunt has been reading up and getting more information while arthur and i were talking. this is disturbing. >> one of the initial reports says the two explosions came from inside the fairmont plaza hotel. i'm not sure which of those building it is there. i'm just looking at boston.com's live blogging of this here. there is one report of injuries. i've not heard that anywhere else. but some ambulances are said to be on the way down there. i'm not sure if we can make them out in that picture. clearly this developing very quickly. >> shepard: we're getting more from the sources in boston and around. this has just crossed "associated press" in the last few seconds, investigating the report of two explosions,s from the fairmont by the hotel. that has been shut down by race

officials because of this report. race officials have shut it down. the sound of two booms, which witnesses said sounded like thunder, right as the -- the race is ongoing at this point. we're waiting to hear something from authorities, and this is unedited video coming in. or are these live pictures -- these are live pictures, it's my understanding. here's what these are. i just learned. this is video that a photographer shot that has not been edited. but is feeding back into their facilities, and we have a rough situation here, and this is not a time to jump to any conclusions at all. at the end of the big event like this, you know, you worry about what may happen at these large events, security has been tightened over the years since the attacks on new york city and beyond. washington and shanksville, pa.

anytime you have something like this, another new york city marathon has unprecedented security, and the boston marathon deeply aware of these same problems, has gob through the same thing. is it possible there was some problem structurally or otherwise, some accident happened? certainlies bought i'm sure authorities are looking into all possibilitiesment we don't know anything about injuries. i should let you know we have just gotten this report. while arthur and i were speaking a couple minutes ago, this first started coming in. we knew it was boston marathon day, and a beautiful day in the northeast, temperatures low but no one certainly expected to see anything like this. our station, wtxf fox for boston was on scene as were a lot of media organizations. of course covering the boston marathon. 3:00 in the afternoon on the east coast, and there would still be a lot of people out there, but to see all of this, the folks in yell low, it's my understanding, are construction workers and police who are --

listen in for a second. [inaudible conversations] [sirens] >> shepard: as the flag flies over the boston marathon we're listening to audio and seeing video of the first real indication we have gotten that something bad happened. we don't have any way to know what it want we know that it sounded like two claps of thunder, and then people start running. it did not happen

simultaneously, right around the fairmont plaza hotel, which is almost directly at the finish line for the boston marathon. let's listen to this again for a moment. [sirens] >> shepard: we're just getting reports of injuries and we're relying on folks on the scene. we are getting reports, and jonathan hunt just got one. >> just got word from "the boston globe" following their feed, shep, a globe staffer on the scene says dozens of people have been seriously injured, as you look at the pictures, obviously they're very disturbing. you can see what looked like people being worked on there but all we have at the moment is this one staffer from "the boston globe," big newspaper, obviously in the city, saying that dozens have been injured. >> shepard: let's listen.

[inaudible conversations] [sirens] >> oh, my god, they're dead. [sirens] [inaudible conversations] s. >> shepard: well, it appears we have quite a tragedy on our hands in boston, massachusetts, this afternoon. i'm shepard smith in new york. this is breaking news from the sight of the boston marathon, where reports and cameramen and

onlookers are standing by as the run this time-honored tradition, and then one explosion and then another right at the finish line of the boston marathon. cops scrambled. people on bicycles, emergency workers, coming to help, and then as the camera panned around in the middle of the chaos, they're removing the barricades to try to get to the injured, a word from the man standing there saying, oh, my god, they're dead. i should let nowow, we would love to be able to bring you context and perspective on this matter right now but that is going to have to wait a minute. we don't know what exploded. we don't know if there was an accident, something from a gas line. we don't know if somebody set off something. we don't have any way to know yet. these are live pictures coming in from boston. and let's just watch along with what we have here. we're expecting within moments to get some clarity on exactly

what happened here and how widespread this dollars may be. we don't know how many people were around the finish line at this time of the afternoon. i suspect it wouldn't be terribly crowded. in fact i would pray it wouldn't be. but the earliest property from "the boston globe" that dozens are injured and initial observance from somebody on scene, not something on which we want to rely, but from what we have seen so far, we have major disaster in boston. happened just at the top of this hour, around 3:00, and now they scramble. now we'll find heroes among the carnage, i can guarantee you, there are people who came to watch or run it today, and those who were selling items at street vendors and inside restaurants and the like, who are out there doing what they took rescue folks from an incident about

which we have little or know information. jonathan, dugetting anything? >> just looking at the pictures, on the closer-up one we had of the scene, it looks as though the glass of some sort of storefront behind what appears to be the epicenter of the explosion, was blown out. i don't see a huge amount of structural damage. that might, might indicate that this was not a huge device, but if you got a bunch of people in one area, crammed in around the end of the marathon, you do not need a large device to cause great damage to people, of course. >> shepard: well, it's patriots day, of course, something celebrated in new england and parts beyond since its inception the boston marathon has been held on its holiday to commemorate patriots day, from 1897 until 1968 it was held on april 19th. unless that was a sunday, and then they changed ruled. more than 8,000 vomits are said to have been on site today to

help out here. it both the oldest marathon, dating to 1887, and the fastest marathon in this nation. the first running had 18 entrants in 1897. to my knowledge there's never been a major incident at the boston marathon until today. let's listen. >> shepard: that doesn't bring us much context or perspective. the headquarters of the boston marathon is now on lockdown. it occurred just seconds before 3:00 this afternoon. it's my belief. and then we began getting the first pictures and reports out of boston at about seven or eight minutes after 3:00. again, 3:00 here on the east coast. some of the initial chaos seems to have calmed. in the early going you saw from the early video people were working very rapidly to try to get people away from an area. there were barricades set up.

if we can go back to that video that might help there had been barricades set up for the finish line, it's my underring, the kind that authorities put out whenever there's a big event. they were moving those to try to get to what appeared to be people who were injured. whether they were able to accomplish that or not is not matter. and people stood in stunned disbelief. on the left-hand side of the screen we're seeing live images from the fox station in boston and on the right-hand side of the screen some video from the early going. you can see wheelchairs in there. there is a wheelchair component to this marathon. whether those were from the marathon or from rescue vehicles, i don't have any way to know. but as you can see on the left-hand side of the screen certainly order to some degree has been restored, and now to wonder -- it's also my understanding some of this you see, the trash on the street, is marathon-related and not related to this matter.

so this is right outside marathon headquarters. and right outside the hotel there, and those explosions just before this hour began. we're getting -- mollie is our new england-based correspondent. mollie, what are you getting? >> we don't have a whole lot of information and this is just beginning to get a handle on what is happening down there near the finish line of the boston marathon on boilston street. an area of the city, very busy today. it wasser in the end of the race. the elite runners finished earlier this morning. this is the time of the day when some of the slower runners and people who came late in the race and coming across the finish line so still a very busy area of town at this point in the day. this is right around the corner from the boston public libraries a historic area of downtown boston. a big area where a lot of people

would be congregating, a lot of media. we can see here from the pictures, the tremendous response that has occurred in that area. witness reports have been there were two explosions. a loud bang heard and then a second explosion heard not so far long after that initial explosion. no indications right now as to what caused these explosions. that's still a mystery. we're not getting a lot of information about that yet. but there are tremendous -- the area has been locked down so it's tough to get close to the area. the restaurants closed. the local hotels have been keeping people inside, trying to keep people safe, until they can get a hale on what exactly occurred here. we're hoping to get some sort of update, but seeing that this just happened, the authorities are still working on getting information themselves. shep? >> shepard: molly, thanks. new pictures coming in, folks

are being taken away in wheelchairs. on the live feed, this is -- listen. listen, please. [inaudible conversations] [sirens] >> shepard: just a few minutes ago we were showing you pictures i told you were new video in. this is not new video -- yes, it is, live pictures do not cut like this. this is new video just come in, and let's just listen. [inaudible conversations]

[sirens] [inaudible conversations] [sirens]

>> shepard: in case your just join us in boston there has been at least one, and witnesses report two explosions, near the finish line of the boston marathon. i have new information for you. >> where the window is, the windows are blown out and there's probably about three for sure dead. >> shepard: well, this is the kind -- this is how the beginning of every scene happens. and what we can hope is that somebody -- well -- my goodness. an unthinkable scene in boston. quickly becoming clear that we're in the middle of a disaster in that city. at least one explosion has happened, possibly two we know that dozens are injured. we have reports, not from authorities or anyone else, of actually seeing victims who did not make it out of this alive. we do not see an enormous amount

of structural damage at all. what we see is windows that are blown out and people who are injured who came from behind those glass walls. it's our belief that is a hotel there. but i'm sure some of the people in the sound of my voice know people in boston and know people at the marathon and know people who work in those buildings, and it is -- would be wrong for us to start guessing about where anything was, or who did anything, or anything else. for all we know there's a kitchen in there and a gas line ruptured and it exploded, and we have horrible -- a horrible outcome. whenever you have an enormous public event like this, the oldest of its kind in all the nation, on patriots day, there are reasons for concern, and because we don't know whether those reasons are based on any sort of fact at this moment, i'm going to read for you the latest we have from the scene, and quoting from the "associated press": two explosions

shattered the euphoria of the boston marathon finish line today, sending thoughtses on the course to try to carry off the injured while the stragglers in the 26.2-mile trek were rerouted repair from the site of the blast. competitors and race organizers were crying as they fled in chaos. bloody spectators were being carried to the medical tent that hat been set up to care for fatigued runner there are lot of people down, one man said, who bib number 17528 identified him as man from north carolina. he was nose injured. but rescue workers were carrying a woman who did not appear to be a runner. she was bleeding. three hours after the winners crossed the line there was a loud explosion on the north side of boyleston street. just before the bridge that marks the finish line of the marathon. then another thundershowerrous explosion could be heard a few seconds later. runner laura mcclain of toronto said she heard two

explosions outside the medical tent, quoting there are people who are really, really bloody, the claim says. they were pulling them into the medical tent. quote, was expecting my husband any minute, she said. i don't know what this building is. it just blew. a big bomb. a loud boom. and then glass everywhere. something hit my head. i don't nope what it was. i ducked. that's what we have. and these are the pictures as they are coming into us from my fox 25 in boston. our local anchors and reporters are on scene. let's listen in. reporter: the head of boston ems and went to work under the obama administration and said he wouldn't miss this for the world. he was here. he loves the boston marathon, and you know he is sort of helping with the triage and is on the scene and making sure people are getting help they need. >> absolutely. reporter: my heart breaks for anybody who is involved.

just devastating. what i know -- i don't know what time it was -- but for the runners to lap -- last group of ires win off at 10:40, this was the four-hour mark and that's when the just crossed the finish line, right at four hours, and that's when you heard an explosion and a explosion following that as well. and there was a big plume of smoke. i didn't see any residual or any smoke with -- i'm sorry -- i didn't see anything that was a second explosion. but the first one was definitely significant, and it was on the side of the building. you know, guys, if that was -- >> shepard: the woman whom you're hearing speak now is a reporter for our station in boston who was there when this happened. >> for contact and wondering if maybe that is where it was.

the jumbotron is where all the people who were there, they could look up at it, that's where the explosion was, on the side of the building. >> so that's right there on the left side, again, where you're pointing out, with the boston public library on the right side, the explosion, according to may ria, appeared to have happened on the left-hand side there. >> going down boylston. >> traveling the way the runners were traveling. on their left. >> exactly. >> it was crowded. tell us how crowded it was. you were there cheering on your husband. >> it was packed. they were coming through -- it was packed, mike. i tell you. there are a lot of people coming through the finish line at that moment. so, you know, in all the people are there -- they're ten deep on the sidelines waiting for their loved ones to come in. so you have all of those people who were right there. now, again, as -- the explosion

happened halfway up the building. doesn't look liked happened on the ground floor. this is all i can tell you, my rex, by turning around, and you know that -- you know stuff is falling from the building. i don't know who it hit or hough it hit. the building istle standing but -- the building is still standing but a definite explosion. i sent you guys a picture. >> maria to make this point, you're saying from what you could see, didn't seem like the explosion happened on the ground but actually happened in the building? reporter: exactly, mike. in the middle of the building. i was right there. i turned around and you saw the plume of smoke in the middle of the building. >> describe that moment -- >> shepard: first, a friend of the fox news family, emily rooney is on the line with us, now a reporter for wgbh radio

and was there as the explosion happened. emily, what happened? >> i was one block away. we heard it go off and started to head toward it. there was instantly hundreds of police and fire apparatus headed toward it. wed had just been talking to the fbi, matter of fact, and they were winding down themselves, all these security trucks and satellite dishes on commonwealth avenue, which is one block away, and they mobilized that. i spoke to one person that said they're certain at least six people were injured, maybe some quite seriously. one man said he saw a guy whose legs blew off. a paramedic pumping the chest on a number of people so definitely serious injuries. >> shepard: emily, i want to pass along what we just got from the boston police. at least three people have died in this explosion, or series of

explosions. police are checking to see whether there may have been -- the devices may have been placed in barrels or garbage cans near the race path but we don't have any confirmation. a source notes the most race runners are the 3:30 to 4:30 range so this hit at a time when most people were expected to be coming toward the finish line from that area. further, emily, we have seen this video of an explosion, glass blowing out. looks like a second or third floor of a building. >> i'm not sure. i ran into maria -- her husband was coming through the crowd just at that second. he was there coming through as -- just when the bomb went off. she took a picture. you may have that picture of hers. you can see the glass going up. i couldn't tell where there was

an actual bomb set up. >> shepard: it's very difficult to ten. it was clear that a lot of people -- i saw people who lost limbs, emily, and -- reporter: people in tears walking by me. it's horrendous situation. >> shepard: did you heart both explosions? reporter: we heard both. a bang, bang, one, two. >> shepard: were theme injured in the building or on the street? >> no one except in the immediate area, because most people were on the side streets watching the racers come through. they have all these blockades set up. you can't step into the street. >> shepard: this is a festive holiday for boston. the red sox always play a day game. i assume they were. reporter: the game was over. this is a day off for most folks, including me. i didn't into goo work today. it's patriots day so it's a day

off. >> shepard: how would you describe the scene there now? has order been restored? there are still victims around? we're looking at ambulances. reporter: it's chaotic, and i'm on under -- newberry street and we heard something go off, some other loud ms.~that went off over here. i think they're actively searching for the other areas that may be involved. most people are vacating. news media trucks have arrived. a lot of stunned runners. people cross-ing the finish edeline shaking their heads and a lot of witnesses saw something awful. >> shepard: i know there's always heightened security. i wonder if there was a sense of those among the news community of something unusual compared to years pass past? >> absolutely not. i think they were joking about the security on commonwealth avenue this morning.

they're set up with big satellites and all this incredible digital data in there, the fbi. they're there all day and all night, and always seems so unnecessary, and now this. >> shepard: you know, emily, since can he don't know what happened yet i'm still pulling for some sort of awful natural accident. reporter: that's what we're hoping, some kind of an accident. >> shepard: i hope. so the guess is security is pretty nuts around now. reporter: it's crazy. >> shepard: emily rooney, a report for boston radio. reporter: wgbh. >> shepard: nice to talk to you. i'm glad you're safe. there's new information coming in. from who? jonathan hunt. >> some of-under staff are monitoring the boston police and fire radio scanners. we're being told the police are asking all bomb squad personnel to report to the finish line area. now, they're evacuating all businesses from the area, and

evacuating everybody they can from the area of the finish line. bomb-sniffing dogs are being brought in. that would be natural, of course, they want to comb the entire area and make sure there is no danger of other explosions. we don't know what caused the explosions but individually they're -- obviously they're looking for any devices. command has been set up at the nearby westin hotel. the marathon has been stopped. a lot of runners were out there. they're now being direct to the nearby boston commons. >> shepard: you mentioned the bomb squad being called out. this is now spreading to other cities. paul brown, the new york police department deputy commissioner has just reported to news agencies that in response to these explosions at the boston marathon, security is being stepped up across new york city. so those people who -- it's 3:30 in the afternoon the rush hour begins in the next hour.

you can bet bridges and tunnels and traffic and subways and buses, we will be returning at least for the moment. to an era where security is much tighter. it has been -- we've gone a long time, frankly, without any -- anything bad happening at major events. we have had a horrible accident at a nascar race. we have had some tragedies to deal with, but we have not had anyone attacking our people. and we may not have now. that's the hope. but these explosions right there at the finish line of the boston marathon on patriots deed lead one to wonder, which is exactly why the new york city police department has stepped up security in this city. this may happen in your city. at it important to keep in mind that often they do this not because they're afraid something is going to happen here but really to make us all feel better. we see security. there's a sense that we're better protected.

if there's a man or woman who is there to -- with a gun on his or her shoulder and watching those around us, we feel better. and thatter is their public service. i have a little more out of new york system deputy police commissioner says new york is deploying counterterrorism vehicles around landmarks in manhattan, including prominent hotels. it would appear to me that they're at least airing on the side of caution just in case somebody has targeted this event. >> two quotes coming in. two huge explosions rocked the boston marathon finish line at copley square just before the newscast began, causing what is described as numerous casualties. we have somewhere in the minimu 306 injured and at least three people dead this afternoon. quoting, i saw two explosions the first one was beyond the finish line.

i heard a loud bang and saw smoke rising, the boston heard reporter was running in the marry happy to, and he said i kept running and i heard behind me a loud bag. looked like it was in a trash can or something. that one was in front of abe and louis' here. there's the narrative from three different sources. an explosion that blew out glass and -- in not the first floor but another floor of the billing and then a short team after -- not sure, people in a big event have a hard time quantifying time. but at some point after the first one there was another one, and this is the third report i have of something in something on the ground. was it a trash can? a dumpster? we don't know what it was. but this reporter, chris cassidy, from the boston marry -- marathon, said it looked like it was in a trash cab people were hit with debris.

at least a dozen that seemed to be injured. it sounds like we're going to have two different scenes with cash advertise. -- casualties, one from the first explosion, and the second one, or outside it, but at the building, and a second one by a restaurant, in something potentially on the street. jonathan, you don't want to jump to any kind of conclusions. what i was hoping was there might have been a gas problem. maybe there was an explosion in a kitchen and that second gas problem caused a secondary explosion now we have reports of two different explosions in two different areas and i hesitate to say it but it would appear that somebody has targeted the marathon. in more than one location. and caused death and injury on patriots day in boston, and this is a sad day in america.

>> it's interesting hearing the reports of witnesses there saying they believe something may have come from a trash can you may remember the irish republican army's bombing campaign in london in the 1980s, trash cans, bombed placed in trash can was a favorite target. so much so in fact at one point in london all trash cans were removed from the street. a "boston globe" reporter was told by volunteers that they were told to run -- and there's a photo on "the boston globe" web site -- >> two volunteers running. one of them describing to "the boston globe" reporter a fear, quote, like 9/11 or the tsunami. >> shepard: well, we're getting lots of reports in now from boston that clearly suggest that there's more than one location for these explosions. and that they're not tied together with some gas line or anything. so, we feel like we know

somebody has caused this. so now, the matter of making sure there are no more devices. frankly, here in new york, when there are events of this kind, manhole covers are bolted down. trash cans are removed from the street. it is a very weird feeling to pile trash on the side of your street when you live there. when these big events happen, trash cans are gone, because they don't use them as receptacles for items that might cause harm. it's entirely possible that however this got there -- we don't know. but we do know that the early reports have at least 30 injured and at least three dead. we expect those to change because the early reports always change, and the video that we have seen this afternoon gives us pause in a moment to say a prayer for the people in boston this afternoon. it's patriots day, and wfxt is our fox station.

fox 25 for boston is covering this as it happened in their city. let's listen. reporter: explosions near the finish line, happening just before 3:00 this afternoon. less than an hour ago. many people were crossing the finish line. we talked to maria earlier. this hour, her husband ran the race, had just crossed the finish line, and maria said within a matter of minutes of him crossing the finish line she heard not one but two explosion economies described it seemed as though the explosions did not happen on the ground level but seemed to have happened in a building. so, again, still getting different reports in, but we're hearing that from witnesses on the scene. if you're coming down boylston street -- >> shepard: in big cities, you see the size of the buildings, you don't always know from whence a noise comes. there's clearly been an explosion at one of these buildings because we have seen the glass blown out in a floor

that's not the ground floor. publish publish but be don't know about this second explosion. we have multiple reports from people in other locations that suggest it might have been on the ground. either way, we're now pretty confident with at least two explosions, they were in completely separate areas. we know where the injuries are coming from, and because of that, we know somebody set those explosions. accidental explosions don't happen in two locations at the same time as the three-hour and 30 minutes, four-hour 30 minute marathoners were finishing. the new york police department, as i mentioned earlier, there was a repeat of an easterly early statement. jonathan, are you get anything? >> we're just hearing now via the boston globe a hotel you can see in one of our live pictures -- the lennox appears to have been opposite where it happened. another luxury hotel in that neighborhood. we're being told now that is

being evacuated. also, another eye witness. a cook at a restaurant or hotel there but telling the "boston globe" he tied his apron around a woman's severed leg. so sounds like there are some horrific injuries being dealt with right now. >> shepard: i'm sure people from all over the nation and who are watching around the world have friends and relatives in new england, and friends from around the country who may have been running in this marathon, and i can tell you the phone systems in boston, as you might imagine, are now completely overloaded. we just word from a number of our people in the new england region that cell phone communication is very difficult. and land lines are having problems. web sites for newspapers and other news organizations are having a very hard time. i'd say probably -- i remember in the hours after the attacks of 9/11, the unbelievable frustration of not knowing where my friends were, and not being

able to get a phone call out. it was worse -- in some ways it was worse than the reality. if you can, put that phone down, because there are people sitting right there in boston who are -- oh, my. and there's one of the explosions. listen. >> shepard: we're on the wrong scene. please go to the breaking news banner at the bottom from sky news. reporter: run that marathon. they're goal is to run four hours. >> what seems more likely, the other side of the street. this will be consistent with the flags, if you like, to the right of the picture, out of view of this camera, and then we get another explosion on the other side of the street, or at least some seconds afterwards and it could be the second device or perhaps the one we showed you on video is the first and this is the second or vice versa sample it's unclear at this stage. but you can see the nature of

that explosion. thats unmistakably some kind of munitions going off. the flash of and cloud of smoke and the race participants are in the foreground here -- and this is video recorded -- you can see there's the -- >> within seconds of each other and this is what people are dealing with. people are running. it cass chaos, everyone is thinking what else is going to happen and we don't know. boston police are saying we want you out of the area because the threat is not necessarily over. you can imagine just the fear in people as they ran -- they couldn't find their families. at this point everyone is looking for their families. i overheard -- >> shepard: here's where we are. this videotape, as you may know, the corporation which owns this

company, opens another company that does a similar thing in great britain and they got some video from someone on the ground, but clearly they camera was panning from one side of the street to the other and we saw one explosion on one side that almost -- well, appeared to be coming from the building, and another explosion on the other side, within a matter of seconds there. i'm pretty sure we're covered on fair use here. there are laws that regulate and rules that regulate what video we can use and what video we can't, if it's not from us, and that's something that lawyers have to be in the middle of. i think we have the key to all of this here in that video that we were just showing, and i've had enough of this still picture. we now know an explosion happened on one side of the street. and then on another, jonathan, and that's as definitive as anything i've seen. it certainly is. >> when you look at that, shep, it makes sense of something "the

boston globe" is just reporting. multiple people transported for medical treatment, blood stained the seahawks of the street. and if -- it remains an if -- but if those were explosive devices planted, it appears they were time to go off within seconds of each other. it's a big if but the two explosions appearing -- what we were just seeing -- one still on one side of the street and the actual explosion in video on the other side of the street, literally within seconds by the leaks of things. >> some new reports coming in now, jonathan. i'm going to read from the boston herald newspaper. the reality of what happened here. it's sinking in quickly. i'll quote now from some people who saw some things that nobody ever wants to see. i hope no one in the sound of my voice ever sees this but at it part of the story and i'm going to read it to you.

i saw two explosions. the first one was beyond the finish line. i heard a loud bang and i saw smoke rising, this from the herald reporter, i kept running and heard a loud bang, looked like it was in a trash can, and quoting again: somebody's leg flew by my head, said spectator you game his nave to our reporter. gave my belt to stop the blood. people were yelling, i need my kids. it was horrific, said a man who gave his name as brian walker. i saw some horrific wounds. you could feel the rush of wind. another quote, at least a dozen seem to be injured in some way. that's from the boston herald reporter. chris mcintorn, in the lennox hotel, said, it's chaos down here two bombs just went off at

the finish line within five seconds of each other. there must be casual advertise. now i'm seeing fire trucks and ambulances. all of this is the earliest reporting. it was really loud explosion, quoting, glass and smoke everywhere. we just want. he said he found what appeared to be a shotgun pellet in his coat pocket seconds later. a shotgun pellet, which other would suggest to us -- we can't know this -- but if you're fining shotgun pellets, somebody has potentially rigged a device with shot gun pellets around it. so when the explosion happens, those pellets and whatever else they found were put in there to create terror. it appears from the facts before our eyes, the wilts statements, we're in the midst of some sort of terrorist attack. the president has been notified.

his administration is in contact with state and local authorizes. -- authorities. he will provide whatever is necessary in the investigation and the response. those are likely ball bearings, not shot gun pellets. it's ball bearings, which those who wish to do is harm, have traditionally wood when setting up their bombs. terrorism is defined best these pictures. now to find out whether there are more devices, whether this incident is over, and to find the people who are responsible for forever changing the boston marathon and the city that houses. it's ten minutes before 4:00 in boston and the nation stands yet again in the face of an attack on one of our greatest cities. the marathon, the longest running race of its kind in the nation, where the fastest people in all the world come, and

whoever did this targeted not the one whose would cross the finish line first but those who would cross in the afternoon hours, after the red sox had long left the field, after the television cameras had long left the winner's position. and people who run this race in some four hours or so, who trained in their own towns and come to boston to prove they have excelled and then celebrate after on patriots day, they were targeted with two separate explosions on two separate sides of the street. clear live time to detonate within seconds of each other if reporters were right, and ball bearings went flying, and a leg went through the air, and mothers search for their children, and a man walked by a camera and said, did you see them? they are dead down there.

>> shepard: we're not going to do a lot of guessing about what happened here. it's not a guess that somebody set two separate explosions. that doesn't happen. that's a fact. so now we're working to find out how many people are injured, who they are, where they're from, what hospitals they're in. in boston, they're working to secure the streets. they're checking trash cans and other receptacles reasons the area. evacuating buildings and locking down others. the city of new york sent out terror prevention teams across the city, bomb squads are on site. there's extra security the bridges and tunnels and the shrubways and buses across new york and boston and the major cities in the united states. and the president of the united states has been notified of the incident in boston and quoting from a white house official on

background to our people there, quote, his administration is in contact with state and local authorities. he directed his administration to provide whatever assistance is necessary. in the investigation and response. as one who has been in a city that lived through a terrorist attack, not very long ago, and saw friends and friends of friends die in big build little down the street, we have certainly sympathy and prayers for the people of boston and all those who came to that fantastic place for this incredible race on this day. and we will go slowly, and with purpose, and add context and perspective and wait until we know what happened before speculating about it. what we know so far from one city of boston official, a city of boston police spokesman informed our people on scene that they can confirm three people are dead, and 30 people are injured, and there is the video as it happened. and you can see the runner in

orange there, as the wind burst came, it appeared to literally knock him to his feet, and now a still version from the -- this may be the same side of the street -- a still picture or screen grab of the same instance can dent. now, can you tell if that is coming from a trash can or from the building behind it? can you tell if maybe it was in somebody's backpack? as he or she stood there? i think the answer is probably no. could there have been a suicide bomber on the street of boston? we're not going to speculate about such matters. we don't know. what we do know is witnesses on scene, multiple witnesses, said they thought it might have come from a trash can. authorities will let us now. now, to take care of the injured and mourn the fade catch -- mourn the dead and catch the people responsible. jonathan? >> boston police radio to the

point this device or devices were in trash cans, now are warning all its officers to be very careful of all trash con containers. that coming from boston police radio. they're also saying no cell phone use is to be allowed. it may be they're shutting down the entire cell phone apparatus in downtown boston right now. if these were sophisticated devices it is possible, of course, they could be -- it is possible to trigger an explosive device using a cell phone rather than a timer affectioned to that device. so that could speck to that kind of fear. but again, shep, we don't know -- we know from one boston.com reporter on the ground that the explosions were 15 to 20 seconds apart. >> shepard: well, we'll find out about time. i have brand new information from one of the fine hospitals in boston. the er at mass general, which is ones of the finest ers in the nation, the people who arrived under good hands this day, but the news is not good.

ten patients with amputations and blown off limbs are in the emergency room operating rooms are an hold and more patients are in route. this from a doctor inside the emergency room to one of our correspondents. here in new york. a dark and sad day in america. if you remember after the attacks of 9/11, after the explosion murrah federal building in oklahoma city, we found in the aftermath of those horrific attacks something in us that maybe in many cases we did not know existed. we found a way to reach out to those next to us, unite in a common cause, to remember the things that mattered to us, our family, and our liberties and our life and our freedom. we've gathered around in

churches and common squares, held each other's hands and comforted each other. the days after that we remembered who we were. and we rows to that occasion, as individuals, as communities, as a nation. and i would bet you most anything that the city of boston will lead us on another those of journeys now. it's very hard to see that day. i remember being on the roof of the -- of our building here in mid-town, manhattan, as the second of the twin towers fell in lower manhattan, and we were all trying to figure out how will we be able to recover in any way from this? these people who come to our land and attack us. we don't know. this could be a thug from the wrong side of town. wildfire was that person has wreaked terror on boston, just as some reeked terror on us, and the aftermath of it we rows and

triumphed and rebuilt and thanked those who sacrificed that day, an we mourn them to this day. and we are better people for the experience of rising against, and now boston lead that charge. first we have to get their people put back together. we have to get -- we have to take care of them, and then they have to bury the dead. and the authority involved across the city and across this country will seek justice against whoever is responsible for this. we're waiting for new information from the scene, and as you might imagine the authorities on the ground are busy. they're going trash can to trash can, searching neighborhoods. happening in cities croat america. we got word from the city of new york police department all major tourist locations, all major points of interest in the city, are now receiving extra security.

all entrants and exit points from the city have beefed up security, something similar to the security that came after the attacks that happened here, and they're on the hunt in boston, jonathan, for whoever is responsible here. >> and, shep, we're hearing the police either have just or are about to carry out a controlled explosion which-according to "the boston globe," is opposite the library on the 600 block of boylston street, not far from where these explosions took place. >> shepard: and in the hours ahead, maybe days ahead, this will happen again and again, because they have to err on the side of caution, and everytime they do it will scare us. just as it did in the year 2001 in this city. and they have to do it to protect us, and give our kids and hug and kiss and remind the people next to us that we love them and remind whoever is responsible for this that you will not take us down. not on p