President Barack Obama (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

(CNSNews.com) – President Barack Obama asserted Tuesday the Boston Marathon bombing was an “act of terror,” a term he avoided in his first statement just hours after the explosions that killed three and wounded more than 100.

“The FBI is investigating it as an act of terrorism,” Obama told reporters at the White House. “Any time bombs are used to target civilians it is an act of terror. What we don’t yet know, however, is who carried out this attack, or why, or whether it was planned and executed by a terrorist organization – foreign or domestic - or was the act of a malevolent individual.”

Obama praised the reaction from the people in Boston at the time, citing runners in the marathon who donated blood, the work of hospitals, churches and residents who took people into their homes.

“The American people refuse to be terrorized, because what the world saw yesterday in the aftermath of the explosion were stories of heroism and kindness and generosity and love,” the president said.

“If you want to know who we are, what America is, how we respond to evil, that’s it - selflessly, compassionately, unafraid,” Obama added.