'Holy sh*t they're shooting at us': Boston police reveal terrifying details of 12-minute firefight with marathon bombers that turned quiet suburb into a warzone

Officers saw Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in Watertown, near Boston



They had just murdered 3 and wounded 264 in Boston Marathon bombing



Officers relive gunfight that saw 250 bullets, 4 pipe bombs and pressure cooker detonated over space of just 12 minutes

Officer: 'I felt like someone dropped a stones on my head. It was shrapnel'



A team of suburban police officers have relived the terrifying moment they came face to face with the Boston bombers and turned a quiet residential street into a deafening warzone.



Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev had just murdered three people and wounded 264 at the Boston Marathon when Officer Joseph Reynolds spotted their black Mercedes SUV driving along Dexter Avenue in nearby Watertown, Massachusetts.



Over the next 12 minutes, some 250 bullets would be exchanged, four pipe bombs thrown and a home-made pressure-cooker detonated in a confrontation that would leave one of the brothers dead and residents cowering under their nightstands .



Warzone: Some 250 bullets were fired, four pipe bombs thrown and a home-made pressure-cooker detonated in a confrontation that would leave one of the bombers dead and the street in ruins

The bombers: Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev had just murdered three people and wounded 264 at the Boston Marathon when Officer Joseph Reynolds spotted their black Mercedes SUV driving along Dexter Avenue in Watertown

'As I drove by, I made eye contact with Tamerlan…We both kind of looked at each other,' he told the New York Post . 'Tamerlan got out and started walking toward me. He lifted up his arms and started firing at me.'



Bullets whistling past him, Officer Reynolds dived behind his patrol car and returned fire, desperately hoping back up would soon arrive.

A minute later, Sgt John MacLellan came on the scene, thinking he was responding to a routine carjacking.

But as shots rang out, he pulled up near his colleague and reached for his gun.

'I saw that [Tamerlan] went from Reynolds’ car to my car and shot, boom, right through the windshield,' he said. 'I got sprayed with glass as I was putting it in park. I said, ‘Holy s**t, they’re shooting at us.'



Terror: At one point, the elder brother then threw his first pipe bomb, which exploded yards from the two officers who dived for cover behind a car, the other side of which was shredded by shrapnel

So in a bid to create a diversion while they held out for more officers, Sgt. MacLellan put his car into neutral, leapt out and sent it rolling towards the brothers.

'I needed to create some sort of diversion…they were engaging the vehicle and it was totally empty. It worked out great.'

The elder brother then threw his first pipe bomb, which exploded yards from the two officers who dived for cover behind a car, the other side of which was shredded by shrapnel.

Then another pipe bomb, which bounced into the road and failed to detonate.

Heroic: The officers have been hailed as heroes for putting their lives on the line to protect the residents of Watertown

As Reynolds radioed for backup, the brothers threw a third pipe bomb which also turned out to be a dud.

Finally, Officer Miguel Colon, Officer Tim Menton, and Sgt. Jeffrey Pugliese, 57, a married father of two with 33 years on the force, arrived to join in the fight.

As they shouted at the brothers, telling them they were surrounded, Tamerlan threw another pipe bomb which ravaged three cars, narrowly missing its cowering targets.

Caught: Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, is searched by law enforcement officers. He had already fled the scene of the gunfight, running over his brother with a stolen SUV

Officer Michael Comick, a 25 year old with only four months on the job, pulled up next, to be met with an almighty blast.



'Just as I'm looking up to see what's going on, the big pressure cooker went off,' he recalled. 'That was a very loud bang, and a big glow that lit up the entire night.



'I felt like someone dropped a bunch of stones on my head, and it ended up being the shrapnel from the explosion, falling down from the sky.'

But by now the officers outnumbered the bombers and were gaining the upper hand.

Sgt. Pugliese, meanwhile, had snuck through a back garden in a bid to surprise the brothers from behind.

He saw their feet from under a car and tried shooting their ankles. But Tamerlan spotted him before he could fire a clean shot.

In an apparent last stand, Tamerlan is reported to have shouted: 'You want more? I give you more.'

He rushed at Sgt Pugliese, gun blazing. But then his weapon jammed so he threw it at the officer, striking him in the bicep, and fled.



Quick-thinking Pugliese chased and tackled him to the ground.

But at that moment he was blinded by the lights of the black SUV. He looked up to see Dzhokhar was now behind the wheel, revving the engine.



Dzhokhar hit the accelerator and sped towards the tussling pair in the apparent hope of freeing his brother from Sgt Pugliese's hold.

Pandemonium: Three people died and 264 were wounded when the brothers detonated two home-made devices near the finish line of the Boston Marathon

But Pugliese leapt out of the way. Dzhokhar ran over his brother, dragging him 25 yards along the street. He then sped off into the night, leaving his brother, who by now had been shot nine times, to his fate.

The relieved officers cuffed Tamerlan, who was groaning in pain and read him his rights. He died of his wounds hours later.

Dzhokhar was later discovered wounded and hiding under the tarp of a boat in a local resident's garden less than half a mile away. He was arrested and awaits trial for the atrocity.





