Hingham Police Chief Witnessed Marathon Explosions

Hingham Police Chief Michael Peraino was waiting on Boylston Street for his daughter to finish the Boston Marathon when the bombs exploded on Monday.

The Hingham Police Chief said he was just 200 yards from the explosions. 

“I couldn’t believe what was happening,” Chief Peraino said. “It was very surreal.”

Peraino was with his wife,  brother-in-law , sister-in-law, and son-in-law when the explosions occurred.  He knew when the second one went off that it was a bomb and was able to call his daughter and tell her to stop.

Peraino’s daughter was running for the Dana Faber Cancer Institute before she was safely stopped at mile 25.  Peraino said she might have been running up Boylston Street at the time of the explosion if she hadn’t been battling a cold. She later met up with her family over 2 hours later at the Hyatt hotel.

The Hingham Police Chief said the Boston Police Department responded quickly to the attack.  He was impressed with how prompt they were saying he saw almost 150 officers respond to the scene within five minutes. Peraino noted that the officers ran towards the explosion rather than away from it, reminding him of the first responders during the 9/11 attacks.

“It was just a very sad day,” Peraino said.

The Hingham Police Department has since assisted the city of Boston.

Lt. John G. Norkaitis, Lt. David Jones, Sgt. David Horte  and officer  Jeffrey P. Kilroy of the Hingham Police Department were assigned to the Metropolitan Law Enforcement Council  and have been dispatched to Boston to provide mutual aid and assist with security at several locations.

Lt. Cory Farina was the only Hingham officer to run the marathon.  Farina finished just before the explosions.