On April 14, 2013, Boston Police Department Sergeant Tommy Saunders captures a suspect and fails to convince Commissioner Ed Davis to let him off from a punishment duty the next day, working the Boston Marathon. During the marathon, brothers Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev detonate two bombs, causing widespread panic in Boston and around the world.
A young couple, Patrick Downes and Jessica Kensky, are injured and taken to separate hospitals, where they are both required to have one leg each amputated. Steve Woolfenden, a family man, is also injured and separated from his toddler son, Leo, who is taken by an officer to a safe location.
FBI Special Agent in Charge Richard DesLauriers is assigned to investigate the bombings in collaboration with Boston police commissioner Ed Davis, while Tommy searches for evidence and helps people that have been injured or separated from their loved ones in the chaos, including Patrick, Jessica, Steven, and Leo.
FBI analysts review footage of the bombing and identify Dzhokhar and Tamerlan as suspects, but DesLauriers is reluctant to release their pictures to the public without further evidence. His hand is forced when the pictures are leaked to the press, while Watertown Police Sergeant Jeffrey Pugliese’s men begin conducting door-to-door searches for the pair.
The Tsarnaev brothers kill Massachusetts Institute of Technology Police Department officer Sean Collier in a failed attempt to steal his pistol, and then carjack student Dun “Manny” Meng, telling him that they committed the marathon bombing and planned to conduct another one in New York City.
While Dzhokhar is in the Shell Gas station convenience store, Meng escapes from the vehicle and takes refuge at the Mobil gas station across the street, where he alerts the police on the whereabouts of the brothers after they drive away in the stolen car. Tommy arrives at the scene, learns of the brothers’ plan, and is given the stolen car’s GPS tracking number, leading police to the pair, which leads to an armed confrontation.
Several officers are injured in the ensuing shootout, where the brothers use both firearms and bombs. While Tamerlan is shooting, Pugliese shoots his ankle, hindering his ability to gather more explosives. Tamerlan orders Dzhokhar to run to New York City to continue the rampage while he makes a last stand. As Tamerlan is subdued by the police, Dzhokhar runs over his brother in his flight, killing him, and escapes in the chaos.
Meanwhile, Tamerlan’s wife Katherine Russell and Dzhokhar’s college friends from UMass Dartmouth (Dias Kadyrbayev, Azamat Tazhayakov, and Robel Phillipos) are detained by the FBI Hostage Rescue Team and questioned by the High-Value Interrogation Group. Russell refuses to disclose any knowledge of her husband’s illegal activities, paraphrasing the Quran in defiance, while Dzhokhar’s roommates appear oblivious to his plans, despite having earlier found bomb components in his possessions.
Later in Watertown, local resident David Henneberry realizes Dzhokhar is hiding in the covered boat in his back yard and calls Tommy and Superintendent William Evans. Dzhokhar is quickly surrounded and arrested by FBI HRT after a brief standoff. Crowds cheer in the streets of surrounding neighborhoods while Tommy and his colleagues celebrate. The Boston police are invited to attend a Boston Red Sox game, where David Ortiz thanks them for their heroism and tells them to “stay strong”.
The epilogue reveals that Dzhokhar was sentenced to death by lethal injection and is awaiting his appeal in federal prison; his three college friends were arrested for obstructing the bombing investigation and authorities are continuing to seek information regarding Russell’s possible involvement in the bombings.
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