After finishing the 117th Boston Marathon, On-Lam stayed near the finish line while walking off his recently completed 26.2 miles.
Then the earth shook and a blast sounded.
One, two, three … eight, nine, ten. And it happened again.
“Who attacks civilians like this? We’re out here celebrating a marathon,” said Lam, who owns Lam’s Garden, located on East State Street in Athens.
At 2:50 p.m. Monday, two explosions rocked the marathon’s finish line on North Boylston Avenue in Boston, Mass., killing three people and injuring 144 as of press time. Of those injuries, 10 resulted in amputations, according to a CNN report. A possibly related fire broke out in John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum at about 4:30 p.m. Monday, and Boston law enforcement officials later confirmed to CNN that two more explosive devices were found and disarmed.
The injured were taken to multiple hospitals in Boston, including Massachusetts General Hospital, where Liz Love, 28, works in the chemotherapy infusion clinic.
Love spent about a half hour in the hospital’s emergency room, which was being prepped while caring for the initial patients, many of whom had lacerations to the legs and head.
“The staff was ready for anything that came through the doors,” Love said. “We haven’t had a mass injury type event recently.”
Lam was one of the more than 17,000 participants to complete the marathon before the explosions, according to results on the Boston Marathon’s website. Ninety-six countries were represented at this year’s race.
Among the top 10 finishers of the marathon was former Ohio University track student-athlete Craig Leon, who graduated in 2007.
Leon completed the marathon in 2 hours, 14 minutes and 38 seconds, and placed third among Americans.
He confirmed his whereabouts and safety via Twitter, saying, “Our group is safe. We are in a hotel on lockdown nearby and cell phones are out. Prayers to everyone outside.”
Ohio track and field coach Clay Calkins received word of the incident from his wife.
“(Leon) reached out to me after the marathon, sent me a text and let me know that he was happy with the result of the marathon,” Calkins said. “I knew he had gotten through fine.”
The Federal Bureau of Investigation deemed the explosions terrorist attacks later Monday afternoon.
Benjamin Banta, visiting assistant professor of political science, said all acts of terrorism are politically motivated to maximize fear in the “enemy” population and signal that the terrorists’ causes are worthwhile.
“Terrorism is a weapon of the weak, and rarely succeeds because it is so difficult to achieve the balance between terror among one group and sympathy among another with some horrific use of violence,” he said.
Banta added that the public reaction to the explosions in Boston was normal given the symbolic nature of terrorist attacks.
Some OU students’ family members competed in the marathon, including Sean Welch, father of Shannon Welch, president of Ohio University College Democrats.
Sean said events such as 9/11 and the Oklahoma City bombings aren’t far from his or anyone’s minds after the explosions.
“We are in shock about the horrific nature of the incidents and how quickly the tenor of the beautiful day changed,” Sean said. “This is a very graphic reminder of the chaos and fear that terrorist acts create.”
President Barack Obama addressed the nation after the explosions, ensuring the city of Boston would have “every federal resource at their disposal.”
“I’m supremely confident that Bostonians will pull together,” Obama said. “And the American people will be with them every step of the way.”
Click here for a slideshow of photos from the Boston Marathon explosions.
Click here for a Storify of Twitter reactions following the Boston Marathon explosions.
– Emily Bamforth, Will Drabold, Kelly Fisher, Olivia Hitchcock, Sam Howard, Danielle Keeton-Olsen, Sophie Mitchem, Nick Robbe and Laura Scheer contributed to this article.
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