Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Might Have Tried to Kill Himself During Apprehension
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev remains heavily sedated at a Boston Hospital, as investigators wait for him to regain the ability to communicate before they interrogate him. Unfortunately for investigators, he suffered a serious injury to his neck, that might prevent him from speaking for some time or at all. Authorities are trying to determine whether the shot that injured the suspect was self-inflicted, and believe it to be a strong possibility "because of the trajectory and location of the bullet wound in his neck."
A source tells Newsday that Dzhokhar might have shot himself while hiding in a boat, only moments before being arrested by authorities (audio of which can be listened to here). The throat injury has prevented Dzhokhar from speaking, and investigators and interrogators remain on hand for when he is able to communicate at all, even if that means writing down information.
"We don't know if we will ever be able to question the individual," Boston Mayor Thomas Menino said in an interview with ABC News.
"He's not in good shape," a law enforcement official told the New York Times.
Investigators want to know if the Tsarnaev brothers acted alone or if there were others involved in planning the terror attacks. "All of the information that I have, they acted alone, these two individuals, the brothers," Mayor Menino said.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev might be charged by federal prosecutors as early as today. The controversy surrounding the reading of Miranda Rights to the suspect continues, with the Senator Schumer detailing the legality of a High-Value Interrogation Group, which would be able to interrogate Tsarnaev without a lawyer, even if he isn't labeled as an enemy combatant. The High-Value Interrogation Group is a multiagency team of specialists led by the FBI. Created by President Obama as a basis for dealing with terrorism suspects, and, as expected, its deployments are classified.
Speaking on CNN earlier today, Senator Schumer said that "given the facts that I've seen, it would be appropriate to use the death penalty in this case, and I hope they would apply it in federal court." The distinction between a federal or state prosecution is important for many reasons, one of them being that Massachusetts doesn't have the death penalty.
UPDATE: Tsarnaev is reportedly awake and responding in writing to some questions from investigators.