Jeff Bauman, Boston Marathon Bombing Amputee Victim, Helped Identify Suspect

by UInterviewApril 20, 2013, 12:00 amNews >

Jeff Bauman, the Boston Marathon bombing victim in one of the tragedy's most iconic photos, aided law enforcement in identifying the suspects from his hospital bed.

One of the first photographs that emerged of the mayhem after the bombs went off at the finish line of the Boston Marathon on Monday. was of a man whose legs had been mutilated by the blast, his face ashen, being pushed in a wheelchair by a valiant civilian in a cowboy hat and two other responders. It was Bauman, who later that day woke up post surgery to find that both of his legs had been amputated from the knee down.

Bauman's brother, Chris Bauman, revealed how he was able to help the police track down suspects. "He woke up under so much drugs, asked for a paper and pen and wrote, 'bag, saw the guy, looked right at me,'" he told Bloomberg News.

Jeff Bauman was eventually interviewed by the FBI while still recovering in the intensive care unit. He was able to give a detailed description of suspect 1, later identified as Tamerlan Tsarnaev. Bauman, 27, told authorities that a man in a cap, sunglasses and black jacket over a hoodie dropped a bag at his feet after looking him square in the eyes.

"The information helped investigators narrow down the suspect, triggering the manhunt that culminated in the car chase and shoot-outs that shutdown Boston," reported The Telegraph.

Bauman, a native of New Hampshire, had been at the finish line waiting for his girlfriend to complete the Boston Marathon when the bomb exploded at his feet.