Newtown Resident Describes 'Sad' Boston Marathon Tragedy

Ed Lucas was sitting at a pasta dinner over the weekend in Massachusetts, preparing for his first Boston Marathon, when someone asked where he was from.

“Newtown, Connecticut,” he proudly proclaimed.

“You can see the expression on their face change instantly: their jaw drops, their eyes get wide,” he said. “And then this happens. We live a half-mile from the Sandy Hook Elementary School; what else can go wrong?”

Lucas is one of countless others in New England, and probably worldwide, asking themselves that same question right now after two bombs exploded sometime after 3 p.m. Monday right near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. The Boston Police Department confirms that three people have been killed, while CNN reported Monday night that at least 141 people have been injured and one of those dead was an 8-year-old boy.

Lucas, the girls track and field and girls and boys cross country coach at Oxford High School, had finished the marathon about 45 minutes before the explosions. He was in his hotel room about five blocks away taking a shower when he received an alert on his phone of the explosions.

“When I was running, my wife was standing right where the bomb went off,” he said. “She missed it by an hour or so.”

The scene in Boston, which Lucas described as vibrant and joyous before the explosion, turned eerie overnight on Monday. Rail lines were on limited service. People were told to stay in their hotel rooms. Emotions ran high.

People who had been so cheerful throughout the day  - they lined all 26 miles ringing cowbells, congratulating runners in all different languages – were suddenly walking around in shock with this glaze in their eyes, he said.

Meanwhile, Lucas was trying to return text messages to people from all over who frantically worried about his well-being and that of others locally.

Later Monday night, Lucas and his wife could only watch the TV news in disbelief from their hotel room in Boston.

“It’s very sad. This is one of the most popular marathons in the world and now they’re talking on the news here about whether they will have it again next year,” he told Patch. "This has been ongoing for 117 years, and they are wondering whether this will put an end to it." 

A contingent of Newtown runners, representing NewtownSTRONG, participated in the race. NewtownSTRONG representative Scott Johnson told Patch Monday afternoon he had heard confirmation from runner Laura Nowacki.

"I asked Laura if everyone is safe through a text and she responded 'Safe,'" said Johnson. "This is unreal."

NewtownSTRONG is a nonprofit fundraising organization to help Newtown heal after the Dec. 14 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.

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Additional reporting by Davis Dunavin.