Georgia
Sen. Saxby Chambliss
told Channel 2 Action News late Tuesday afternoon that a law
enforcement agency may have had information in advance of the Boston
bombings that wasn't properly shared.
"There now appears that may
have been some evidence that was obtained by one of the law enforcement
agencies that did not get shared in a way that it could have been. If
that turns out to be the case, then we have to determine whether or not
that would have made a difference," Chambliss said.
Though
Chambliss would not get into specifics on the information or whether or
not the bombing could have been prevented, he told Channel 2 Action
News that they will find out if someone dropped the ball.
"Information
sharing between agencies is critical. And we created the Department of
Homeland Security to supervise that. We created the National Counter
Terrorism Center to be the collection point for all of this information,
and we're going to get to the bottom of whether or not somebody along
the way dropped the ball on some information and did not share it in a
way that it should have been shared."
The Senate Intelligence
Committee panel was briefed by federal law enforcement officials
Tuesday as well. Members of the panel said there is "no question" that
Tamerlan Tsarnaev was "the dominant force" behind the Boston attacks,
and that him and his brother had apparently been radicalized by material
on the Internet rather than by contact with militant groups overseas.
Younger brother Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's condition was upgraded from serious
to fair as investigators continued building their case against the
19-year-old college student. He could face the death penalty after being
charged Monday with joining forces with his brother, now dead, in
setting off the shrapnel-packed pressure-cooker bombs that killed three
people.
Based on preliminary written interviews with Dzhokar in
his hospital bed, U.S. officials believe the brothers were motivated by
their religious views. It has not been clear, however, what those views
were.
Martin Richard, a schoolboy from Boston's Dorchester
neighborhood who was the youngest of those killed in the April 15 blasts
at the marathon finish line, was laid to rest after a family-only
funeral Mass.
"The outpouring of love and support over the last
week has been tremendous," the family said in a statement. "This has
been the most difficult week of our lives."
A funeral was also
held for Massachusetts Institute of Technology police officer Sean
Collier, 26, who authorities said was shot to death by the Tsarnaev
brothers on April 18.
A memorial service for Collier was scheduled for Wednesday at MIT, with Vice President
Joe Biden expected to attend.
More than 260 people were injured by the bomb blasts. About 50 were still hospitalized.
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