New pictures of alleged marathon bomber, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, surfaced on Thursday.
The images showed his face bloodied, eyes closed and the unmistakable glow of a sniper’s red laser pointed right at him. The images were the public’s first look at the moment Tsarnaev surrendered to the police.
The pictures showed him lifting up his blood-stained sweatshirt, showing police he’s unarmed and him hunched over the side of the boat where he had been hiding for hours.
The photos were taken by a 25-year veteran State Police sergeant who said he’s outraged by the actions of ‘Rolling Stone’ magazine to put Tsarnaev on the cover.
Sergeant Sean Murphy told ‘Boston Magazine,’ “What ‘Rolling Stone’ did was wrong. This guy is evil. This is the real Boston bomber. Not someone fluffed and buffed for the cover of ‘Rolling Stone’ magazine.”
Sgt. Murphy’s pictures offered a new look at the terror suspect and were very different than the cover photo that generated a lot of controversy.
Wounded officer Richard Donohue was the last man allegedly injured by the Tsarnaev brothers. He expressed great concern over the magazine photo.
“I hope it doesn’t glorify him. They could have picked anybody else. There’s a number of people they could have picked for a rock or entertainment magazine besides an alleged bomber,” said Donohue.
Massachusetts State Police relieved Sgt. Murphy of his duty shortly after he gave the pictures to ‘Boston Magazine.’ Officers arrived at his home Thursday and took several items from Sgt. Murphy, including his gun, ammunition, his badge, his police ID, and his license to fire arms. He has not been fired and the status of his duty was to be reviewed. He was ordered not to speak to the press or discuss the capture of Tsarnaev with anyone else.
Photo courtesy of Sergeant. Sean Murphy, Massachusetts State Police via Boston Magazine.