Boston Bombing Suspect Was Lifeguard at Harvard Pool, Police Scour Facility

BOSTON, Massachusetts, April 19. BOSTON is on lockdown today as authorities search for one of the suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing that killed three on Monday and wounded hundreds others.

News reports are indicating today that one of the suspects, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, worked as a lifeguard at Harvard University's Blodgett Pool, where all of the university's aquatic sports athletes train. Tsarnaev was hired there in 2010, but was fired last summer. News reports indicate Tsarnaev was let go because he missed too many shifts at the pool.

George MacMasters, the head lifeguard at Blodgett Pool, spoke with ABC News this morning about Tsarnaev.

“The (person) that came down to interview with me was a young, thin young man. (He) looked athletic, very polite. He got along well with the other boys he was with. He seemed like a regular neighborhood kid.”

MacMasters' interview on ABC News:

Unfortunately your browser does not support IFrames.

Watch More News Videos at ABC | Technology News | Celebrity News

As is the case with most of Boston, Harvard University is on alert today. All home games scheduled at Harvard this weekend have been postponed. Earlier today, police conducted a search of Blodgett Pool, which disrupted Olympian Alex Meyer's workout, according to a recent Twitter post:

@swimmingworld i was training alone this AM, halfway thru 30×100 when 5 cops with guns kicked me out! Had to start all over again this PM!

— Alex Meyer (@AlexMeyerSwims) April 19, 2013

Also earlier today, Swimming World obtained an email sent by Harvard diving coach Keith Miller:

As most of you know, we've got some crazy things happening around here. I've been hearing from some alumni, so I thought I'd send something out.

We're all fine, and I've been writing to the divers. I actually have one admitted senior stuck at Logan right now, and another on the way. It's our “pre-frosh” weekend, and there are over 550 visitors expected on campus for the weekend. The poor guy at Logan, Manasseh Oso from Arizona, came for a recruit trip on the weekend of the huge blizzard in February. I hope we haven't scared either of them away!

I just heard George MacMasters, the Head Lifeguard at Harvard on CNN. It turns out that “Suspect # 2,” the one they are currently looking for, was a lifeguard here. One of the places they seem to be focused on, in Watertown, is almost directly in my commuting path to work every day.

I just wanted to let people know that we're fine, though, and I'm sure many of you are following this as we are. (We're not allowed to drive at this point, so we're all stuck at home.)

I hope you are all safe and I'll be back in touch with a real diving update soon!

Name*

Email*

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use