Evans: NY/NJ Bombings 'Eerily Similar' To Marathon Attack
BOSTON (CBS) -- Boston Police Commissioner Bill Evans said that, for many who experienced the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings, the details about this weekend's bombing attacks in New York and New Jersey felt familiar.
"I think it was sort of eerily similar, with the pressure cooker and the release of the picture and the shootout," Evans told WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Carl Stevens.
"It bothers me," he continued. "I'm sure it brings back a lot of bad memories for the families involved. But we can't be intimidated by these terrorists, and we gotta continue to live our lives."
The suspect in this weekend's attacks, Ahmad Rahami, was arrested Monday after a shootout with police in Linden, New Jersey.
Authorities say he used a bomb similar to those used by Boston Marathon bombers Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.
"That was five days of hell here in the city, I think both physically and mentally for everyone involved," Evans told WBZ-TV's Nicole Jacobs. "It's troubling that someone would replicate that."
CBS News has confirmed there is no mention of the Boston Marathon bombers in handwritten notes and notebooks belonging to Rahami that were recovered by authorities, as had been reported earlier.
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The commissioner praised law enforcement for their capture of Rahami.
"We're glad he was captured, obviously, in New Jersey, and I commend those officers, thank God they're okay," said Evans.
In Boston, he said police would be more visible around transportation hubs like North and South Station and Copley Square--but that, as always, authorities rely on the public to be their eyes and ears.
"We're gonna still always ask the public again, if they see something, say something," Evans said. "I think we've seen over the last 48 hours how important that is."
Evans said his department is working closely with state and federal partners--and that, while there's no direct threat to the city, they're not letting their guard down.
"Unfortunately, I think we live in a world that, we can never let our guard down anymore," he said.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Carl Stevens reports
