Boston Bombings Leave Local Officials Saddened and Speechless

Swampscott Fire Chief Kevin Breen's first thoughts go to the people affected by Monday's bombings in Boston.

Three people were killed including an 8-year-old boy, and more than 100 people were injured in the marathon blasts.

After thinking of the victims, the fire chief is speechless, trying to fathom why someone would do what was done.

And it appears that the person or persons intended harm greater than the harm inflicted since other, undetonated, bombs were reportedly discovered.

The chairman of the Swampscott Board of Selectmen, Rich Malagrifa — a Delta Airline pilot and Air Force veteran— is vacationing in Georgia with his family. He found out about the bombings through text messages.

"It’s terrible, I can’t imagine ...," he said in a telephone interview.

It’s scary that explosions, most often reported in locations far from the United States, hit in the United States, in Boston.

"Here we are and it is here," he said.

On Monday night, Swampscott historian Lou Gallo was getting calls from friends who know that he often sits in stands near the finish line at the marathon.

As recently as two years ago, he sat in those stands, seats secured by a friend who was press coordinator for the Boston Athletic Association, which hosts the marathon.

Grandstands by the finish line were targeted by the bomber or bombers, the undetonated device reportedly discovered by authorities.

The local historian said he is outraged and disgusted by the violence.

He also thinks there may be significance to it taking place on Patriots' Day, a day on which domestic terrorists have carried out prior acts of violence.

He thinks the act was intended to, and will, put people on edge these years after 9/11. 

What was most impressive, however, was all the people who went running to help the victims, not away from danger, he said.