• Officials  now claim that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was unarmed as he hid in boat in  Watertown
• Contradicts  Boston Police Commissioner’s account of hour-long firefight with  Tsarnaev
• New York  Times said M4 rifle had been found on boat
• Police  sources suggested Tsarnaev shot himself onboard

By  Associated Press and Daily Mail Reporter

PUBLISHED: 20:53 EST, 24  April 2013 |  UPDATED: 22:48 EST, 24 April 2013

Two unnamed U.S. officials have told the  Associated Press that the surviving suspect in the Boston bombings was unarmed  when police captured him hiding inside a boat in a neighborhood back  yard.

The report contradicts the Boston police  department’s own account of Dzhokar Tsarnaev’s capture on Friday – after  commissioner Ed Davies described a firefight between him and officers before the  terror suspect was captured.

The New York Times also said an M4 rifle had  been found on the boat – another claim contradicted by the latest  revelations.

Officers had originally said they had  exchanged gunfire with Tsarnaev for more than one hour Friday evening before  they were able to subdue him.

But on Wednesday, the law enforcement  officials told the AP that no gun was found aboard the vessel.

 

Hidden: Authorities say that Boston Marathon bombing  suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was not armed as he hid in this boat in a Watertown,  Massachusetts backyard

Hideout: Dzhokhar was found hiding in this boat in  Watertown on Friday following a massive manhunt

 

 

 

Apprehended: Dzhokhar is searched and given medical  attention after he is found hiding on Friday evening

It also contradicts many media accounts of  Tsarnaev’s final moments of freedom.

The New York  Times reported that an M-4 carbine  rifle – similar to the weapon  used by American troops fighting in Afghanistan –  was found aboard the  boat and that officials had recovered two handguns and a  bb gun used by the two brothers.

The throat wound sustained by Tsaernev was  also said by numerous law enforcement sources to be self inflicted.

Sources told Newsday that Tsarnaev’s bullet wound looked to be self-inflicted, due to the location of  Tsarnaev’s wound and the trajectory of the bullet.

And Reuters reported that the suspect was  shot through the mouth by a round that exited through his neck.

Dozens of bullet holes were seen on the  exterior of the boat in photos taken shortly after the final standoff in the  Watertown backyard.

The officials told the AP that say  investigators only recovered a 9 mm handgun believed to have been used by  Tsarnaev’s brother, Tamerlan, from the site of a gun battle Thursday night,  which injured a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority officer.

 

Trawl: On Monday, a police forensics team examined the  boat where Dzhokhar was found hiding

 

 

Scene: He was found cowering in the boat after its owner  realized its straps had moved on Friday evening

Dzhokhar was believed to have been shot  before he escaped.

The officials tell The Associated Press that  no gun was found in the boat.

Investigators have said the brothers appeared  to have been radicalized through jihadist materials on the Internet and have  found no evidence tying them to a terrorist group.

Dzhokhar told the FBI that they were angry  about the U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and the killing of Muslims there,  officials said.

How much of those conversations will end up  in court is unclear.

 

Rip: An FBI officer stands in front of the boat  where  Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the surviving suspect in the Boston Marathon  bombings, was  hiding inside

The FBI normally tells suspects they have the  right to remain silent before questioning them so all their statements can be  used against them.

Under pressure from Congress, however, the  Department of Justice has said investigators may wait until they have gathered  intelligence about other threats before reading those rights in terrorism  cases.

The American Civil Liberties Union has  expressed concern about that.

Regardless, investigators have found pieces  of remote-control equipment among the debris and were analyzing them, officials  said.

One official described the detonator as  ‘close-controlled,’ meaning it had to be triggered within several blocks of the  bombs.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2314448/Now-officials-claim-Boston-bombing-suspect-NOT-armed-boat-showdown–despite-police-account-firefight-shooting-himself.html#ixzz2RSXOAtug Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook