--- description: The report is mostly a play-by-play of the bombing and subsequent manhunt from April 15 to 19, 2013. title: Cops Shot Too Soon in Boston Bombing Manhunt, Report Finds image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Terrorism](/tag/terrorism/) ## Terrorism Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Cops Shot Too Soon in Boston Bombing Manhunt, Report Finds  by [Charlotte Alter](/author/charlotte-alter/)  ## Charlotte Alter Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Apr 3, 2015 7:33 PM CUT  by [Charlotte Alter](/author/charlotte-alter/)  ## Charlotte Alter Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Apr 3, 2015 7:33 PM CUT A long-awaited [government report ](http://time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/after-action-report-for-the-response-to-the-2013-boston-marathon-bombings.pdf "undefined")on the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings praised law enforcement for their quick and effective response to the fatal attack, but noted that officers who cornered alleged bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in a boat several days later may have fired on him too soon. The report is mostly a play-by-play of the bombing and subsequent manhunt from April 15 to 19, 2013\. Much of the report details the effective coordination of law enforcement, medical personnel, marathon officials and hospital staff. For example, all the patients who went to the hospital survived their injuries, and medical tents at the finish line of the marathon were instrumental in providing on-site medical care. But the report also details some areas for improvement, including in how careful police are when firing their guns. The report noted that “weapons discipline was lacking,” both during the firefight with the Tsarnaev brothers and during the standoff with Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in the boat on April 19\. In that standoff, police opened fire on the boat after hearing a gunshot that they believed came from Tsarnaev, but actually came from a fellow police officer, who had fired inappropriately, the report found. There was also an incident when officers fired on a suspicious-looking unmarked black truck that was actually driven by plainclothes officers, who were both unhurt. The report warned that “each of these incidents created a dangerous crossfire situation.” While many different teams worked quickly and efficiently to keep Boston safe, the report also noted that there was room for improvement in coordination between city agencies, which “created confusion at times.” The report recommended that each city agency have a designated emergency representative to coordinate with other agencies, and that the city develop a more unified emergency response policy for the future. Another area for improvement was in hospital evidence collection. The report said that hospital personnel were “intimidated” by the heavily armed police officers questioning victims and witnesses, and that there was not a streamlined procedure for gathering evidence from survivors at the hospital. Also, the interlocking rack barriers that kept spectators from interfering with the marathon proved to be major obstacles for first responders. The report recommends the city look into alternative crowd control techniques that could be more easily disassembled in an emergency situation. ### See Evidence From the Boston Bombing Trial  Prosecutors presented this image of a blood-stained, bullet-ridden message, allegedly written by Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on the inside of a boat, to jurors as evidence in Boston on March 10, 2015. U.S. Department of Justice/Reuters  Prosecutors presented this image of a blood-stained, bullet-ridden message, allegedly written by Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on the inside of a boat, to jurors as evidence in Boston on March 10, 2015. U.S. Department of Justice/Reuters  Prosecutors presented this image of a blood-stained, bullet-ridden message, allegedly written by Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on the inside of a boat, to jurors as evidence in Boston on March 10, 2015. U.S. Department of Justice/Reuters  This still image, presented as evidence at trial, shows the boat where Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev hid after a gunfight with police. U.S. Department of Justice/Reuters  This still image captured from video shows brothers Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev crouched behind a car during their April 2013 shootout with police. U.S. Department of Justice/Corbis  Evidence markers are seen on a street where Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev engaged in a gunfight with police. U.S. Department of Justice/Reuters  A 9mm Luger clip and bullet package sit next to a backpack and bag on a street where Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev engaged in a gunfight with police. U.S. Department of Justice/Reuters  A wallet containing Tamerlan Tsarnaev's drivers license is seen in a still handout image entered as evidence in the trial of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. U.S. Department of Justice/Reuters  A large fragment of a homemade pressure-cooker bomb that accused Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is charged with throwing at police officers during a gunfight in Watertown, Mass. on April 19, 2015, is seen embedded in the side of a Honda Civic that was parked near the site of the disturbance. U.S. Department of Justice/Reuters  An unexploded metal bomb filled with explosive powder and lined with metal pellets was entered as evidence in the trial of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. U.S. Department of Justice/Reuters  An unexploded metal bomb was entered as evidence in the trial of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. U.S. Department of Justice/Reuters  This still image capture from video, which was released as evidence in the trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, shows the chaos as a bomb explodes during the 2013 Boston Marathon. U.S. Department of Justice/EPA  A still image captured from surveillance video at the Boston Marathon shows the scene moments before a second bomb exploded as a man, marked with a circle by prosecutors (top R) and identified by them as defendant Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, moves rapidly away from the spot near the finish line of the race on April 15, 2013 in Boston. U.S. Department of Justice/Reuters  A still image captured from surveillance video at the Boston Marathon shows the moment when a second bomb exploded as a man, marked with a circle by prosecutors (top R) and identified by them as defendant Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, moves rapidly away from the spot near the finish line of the race on April 15, 2013 in Boston. U.S. Department of Justice/Reuters  A still image captured from surveillance video at the Boston Marathon shows the moment when a second bomb exploded as a man, marked with a circle by prosecutors (top R) and identified by them as defendant Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, moves rapidly away from the spot near the finish line of the race on April 15, 2013 in Boston. U.S. Department of Justice/Reuters ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3771056/cops-shot-too-soon-boston-bombing-manhunt/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3771056/cops-shot-too-soon-boston-bombing-manhunt/"},"headline":"Cops Shot Too Soon in Boston Bombing Manhunt, Report Finds","datePublished":"2015-04-03T19:33:58.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:04:43.081Z","description":"\"Weapons discipline was lacking\" during manhunt and standoff, report says","url":"https://time.com/3771056/cops-shot-too-soon-boston-bombing-manhunt/","keywords":["Terrorism","Boston","Law Enforcement","Weapons","Marathon","bombings"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Charlotte Alter","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/charlotte-alter/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/terrorism/","name":"Terrorism"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3771056/cops-shot-too-soon-boston-bombing-manhunt/","name":"Cops Shot Too Soon in Boston Bombing Manhunt, Report Finds"}}]}] ```