Indictment: Marathon Bombers Bought Explosives in NH

The Boston Marathon bombers purchased explosives in Seabrook and practiced target shooting in Manchester, according to a 70-page indictment handed down by a federal jury.

The 30-count indictment against Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, released Thursday, includes charges for weapons of mass destruction, murder and more. It also includes details about the months leading up to the April 15 bombings.

The indictment says that on Feb. 6, 2013, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's older brother, Tamerlan, traveled to Phantom Fireworks in Seabrook and purchased 48 mortars containing approximately eight pounds of "low explosive powder." Store officials told Patch in May that they had been contacted by authorities, but this is the first time federal investigators have openly confirmed that the bombers purchased explosives in New Hampshire.

A woman also claimed she saw the two brothers the day before the bombings when they asked her for directions to a gun range in Exeter.

The indictment does not specifically say that the Phantom Fireworks explosives were used in the Boston Marathon bombings, but it does repeatedly refer to the "low-explosive powder" used to make the bombs.

The indictment also says that Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev traveled to New Hampshire again on March 20, 2013. They went to an unnamed firing range in Manchester, where Dzhokhar Tsarnaev allegedly "rented two 9mm handguns, purchased 200 rounds of ammunition, and engaged in target practice with Tamerlan Tsarnaev for approximately one hour."

According to the indictment, Tsarnaev learned how to make the now-infamous pressure cooker bombs from Inspire Magazine, an al-Qaeda publication. After bombing the marathon, killing three people and injuring many more, the brothers then shot and killed MIT police officer Sean Collier, carjacked a driver, and had an extended gunfight with Watertown Police. Tamerlan was killed during that exchange. Dzhokhar was found later the next day inside the boat.