DARTMOUTH -- The UMass Dartmouth campus closed abruptly early this morning after school officials realized the younger of the two men authorities said were responsible for the Boston Marathon bombing is a student there. The campus remained on lockdown this afternoon, with armed police blocking the main entrance.
The shutdown was staggered – first the dorm, and then the whole campus. Students living on campus were evacuated to Dartmouth High School.
The student, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, is the subject of an intense manhunt; his brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, was killed early this morning in a shootout with police.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev had passed an apparently normal day at the school Wednesday, according to a UMass official, working out at the gym, then sleeping in his single-unit room at the Pine Dale Hall dorm that night, while law enforcement officials were frantically scanning photos and video trying to identify him and his brother.
School officials know he was there Wednesday because of card swipes, but it was not clear if he had been there earlier. He was described as good, typical student who played intramural soccer.
A student, who didn’t want to be identified, said she saw Dzhokhar Tsarnaev at a party Wednesday night that was attended by some of his friends with whom he played intramural soccer.
“He was just relaxed,” she said.
