State trooper testifies on tense standoff with Tsarnaevs
BOSTON -- At the Boston Marathon bombing trial Wednesday, there was gripping testimony about the homemade bombs that the Tsarnaev brothers allegedly threw at the police during the shootout that left the older brother dead.
While the battle between the Tsarnaev brothers and police was still going on, trooper Robert McCarthy with the state police bomb squad arrived on the scene.
"At that time, there was multiple radio calls of 'shots fired,' " he told the court. "They're throwing bombs at us."
Two of those bombs didn't explode. McCarthy described using a robot to place them in a bomb pod. They were taken to a safer location to be diffused. The inside of the bombs were lined with BB's and filled with gunpowder.
When asked about the unusual shape of one of the bombs, McCarthy explained: "We don't see these types of pipe bombs, usually they're straight length. We don't call these pipe bombs, it's more of an improvised grenade. When it's tossed it will stop, it will not roll away."
The bullet-riddled Mercedes had been abandoned a few blocks away. In it, McCarthy discovered a Tupperware container full of explosive powder and fuses.
A pair of bloody white gloves were found in the Tsarnaevs' Honda. A forensic scientist told the court that blood was from murdered MIT officer Sean Collier.
Fingerprints were found in both vehicles, including the carjacked Mercedes. The jury was told some of those fingerprints were those of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.