Bermudian in Boston describes a city under siege

Bermudian artist and Boston resident Dan Dempster today said the city is in a virtual state of siege as police continue to hunt a suspected marathon bomber.

Mr Dempster, who lives six miles from the Watertown suburb at the centre of the massive police operation, said: “The whole place has been shut down. There are a lot of very shaken people.

“All of a sudden, people were phoning us, asking us if everything was okay. We don’t have any contact with people because we’re not going outside.”

Mr Dempster, who lives in Somerville, said the city authorities had called to say the area was safe — but advised residents to stay indoors.

He added: “They want the streets clear so officers can pursue the suspect without having to worry about people getting in the way.”

Mr Dempster said: “I have friends in Watertown — I just hope they’re safe, but I doubt they will be able to move anywhere until this is sorted out.”

He added that the official release of video shot at the scene identifying two suspects on Thursday may have flushed the suspects, two Chechnya-born brothers, out of hiding.

He said that terrorism expert Peter Krause, of Boston College, had suggested the pair had not claimed responsibility for Monday’s bombs at the Boston Marathon, which killed three and injured almost 200, because they had been planning further attacks.

Temeralan Tsarnaev, 26, was shot by police and died later in hospital only hours after the CCTV footage was released.

His brother Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, escaped after police opened fire on a car the pair had hijacked near Massachusetts Institute of Technology.