Agree. OP also misses a big point: they 'shut down' because they thought they knew his identity and roughly where he was. Contrast this, for example, to the

Agree. OP also misses a big point: they 'shut down' because they thought they knew his identity and roughly where he was. Contrast this, for example, to the DC sniper, where they knew neither. The only reason I can figure that these two bombers weren't in Mexico or someplace else far away by Thursday is that they weren't finished with their terrorism. I think a lot of us were thinking that. On a related note, Gov Patrick impresses me with the way he handles emergencies. I don't always agree with his politics, but he's a helluva leader. We were all on edge (I live on the North Shore); we knew that he may be able to get out of the city and seek to continue his rampage elsewhere. I think the authorities did an outstanding job all around, and perhaps got a little lucky. But the 'lockdown' seemed to help them get the job done in a deliberate, systematic way. Other cities will learn from this.