Pete Williams: Suspect Has Been Identified

I'm a little less skeptical of Pete Williams' reporting because in the early morning after the Boston Bomber chase, when many (including me) were still reporting Stupid False Things, Pete Williams came up to the camera and said those reports were false, and the FBI knew who the real bombers were.

He was extremely confidant. As soon as I saw how confidant he was -- and was pretty sure he knew the names of the bombers, but had been forbidden from reporting it yet -- I scrambled to update my own post. He clearly knew what he was talking about. He wasn't guessing; he knew.

And, indeed, in an hour all of the media was reporting the bombers' actual names.

Still, I don't want to report this guy's name. But John Nolte collects up the most recent tips and tweets.

Others (not Pete Williams, apparently) say the shooter was looking for specific targets, as in the case of a grudge killing, but as that's not Pete Williams I put less stock in it.

2:41pm - NBC 4 says one of two potential suspects-- the white male -- is no longer "person of interest," not a suspect. Black male is still a suspect.

2:40pm - NBC 4 reports [suspect's name redacted] ID's by fingerprints. Outlet re-emphasizes that [suspect's name redacted] was targeting specific people.

2:39pm - Per Pete Williams shooter is [suspect's name redacted] of Fort Worth Texas who just started working for the Navy as a civilian contractor. Still, he used the ID card of someone else who had recently been demoted, so badge was still working.

2:37pm - Police want people to call 1-800-CALL-FBI with tips on two suspects still at large. A black man, 40-50 years old in olive drab military uniform. Also a white man in tan khaki Navy uniform wearing a beret.

To reiterate, Pete Williams says that police are questioning the man whose employee badge was found near the body of the shooter (or by the body of one of the shooters, if there were several). Based on Notle's updating, it looks like Rollie Chance had recently been demoted, but his badge was still working as far as granting access. The shooter used that badge. The question on that score is how did he get it and why did he have it.

Video: Mediaite has posted video of Pete Williams' report.

“What his motive was is a long way from determined,” Williams continued.

Ah-he-hem. I am always very suspicious when they start talking about complex and mysterious motives which we may never quite fully understand. I'll leave my speculation at that.

posted by Ace at 02:55 PM

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