'I didn't do anything!' High school track runner forced to deny involvement in Boston Marathon bombings after a picture of him and his coach is widely circulated

The two men in these photos have not been named as suspects but are the subject of speculation



New reports claim the man in the blue sports shirt is 'just a local kid that loves track'



Both were wearing sports tops- one in a black shirt and a white baseball cap and the other in a blue shirt

Eight-year-old boy, 29-year-old woman and University of Boston grad student killed in the attack



183 people injured, at least 23 of them in critical condition and 'a lot' of amputations have been performed





A Moroccan teenager has been forced to deny today that he was linked to the Boston bombing after photos of him carrying a bag and accompanied by a man with a backpack near the finish line were published in the media.



The picture of the 17-year-old was widely circulated in the days following the Monday blasts along with allegations that he was being sought by the FBI.

ABC News spoke to the brother of the 17-year-old track star and confirmed that he went to the police on Wednesday to clear his name.



The boy's younger brother said that their mother was 'sick and upset' that he had been connected to the fatal attack.



'It made her think he had done something wrong,' the brother told ABC News.



'My brother is not the bomber.'

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The two people pictured-including the Moroccan-American teen- are not formally considered suspects, but because they were both holding bags that appeared to contain heavy items.

Questions raised: Internet commentators raised questions about the men because of their bags, which seemed to be heavy

The high school athlete had originally thought that he wanted to run in the race but when he could not for unspecified reasons, he went to the marathon route to watch the others.



After seeing photos of himself online and speaking to the authorities, the Massachusetts teen took to Facebook to clear his name after reportedly making contact with authorities, saying: 'Going to the court right now!! S*** is real. But u will see guys I'm did not do anything'.



Several hours later on Wednesday evening, he posted again: 'back home! everything is fake but god is with me.'

The pictures show one young man in a blue athletic top standing beside another man in a white baseball cap and black sweatshirt, is believed to be one that the FBI circulated among law enforcement officials.



It is believed that the FBI will later today release images of men they want to question in connection to the bombings. It is not clear if the picture of the Moroccan teenager and his 'coach' are among those images, and they have not been



After the photo was distributed rapidly, new claims emerged on social media sites that they were innocent bystanders.



Anonymous sources from online community Reddit said that they were 'friends' of the man in the blue tracksuit, and said that he was 'just a high school kid that loves track'.

From there, reports range from saying that the man beside him in the white hat is his coach to others asserting that the 'kid' does not know the man. Neither man has been publicly identified by name.



Suspect or student? After the video was released online, friends jumped to the boy's defense saying that he is a 'local kid' who runs for his high school track team

Identity: The teen made his Facebook profile private after he gained attention, and he told followers that he spoke to authorities at court and was released

The supposed acquaintances on Reddit said that the man in the black track suit spoke with police, who then called the FBI.



'Both are scared, the guy in this pic will miss school tomorrow, where hs competing for some track competition, the other guy will miss work,' Reddit user 'desert_morning' posted early on Thursday.



Friends defended him on Internet forums saying he was a high school track runner who had gone to watch the marathon on Monday with his coach.

Several posted concerns, with one remark reading: 'Careful dude, the whole Internet is watching you right about now.'

The Moroccan-American teenager describes himself as a keen runner and member of his high school track team. The teen works at Subway and posts that he is a fan of the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Hunger Games and Hannah Montana.



Coach: The 24-year-old track coach is said to be the one standing next to the teenage runner at the marathon

Questions: The pair were never identified as suspects and they tried to clear their name

On his Facebook profile, which has since been made private, he posted pictures in the crowd along the race route on Boylston Street close to a large screen of the race.



The two people pictured-including the Moroccan-American teen- are not formally considered suspects.

'I wouldn't characterize them as suspects under the technical term. But we need the public's help in locating these individuals,' said Janet Napolitano, the Secretary of Homeland Security.

Conflicting reports about the veracity of the photos and why authorities sent it out.

CBS reporter John Miller says that neither of the men pictured are suspects in the bombings that killed three and injured 183 on Monday.

Gawker seconds Miller's assertion, saying that they found the now-deleted Facebook profile of the young man in the blue tracksuit, who is apparently a Moroccan-American high school student who lives in Massachusetts. That individual plays on his school's soccer team and runs track.

As internet commentators searched for clues using the pictures of the two men to jump to their own conclusions about what role if any they played in the attack on Monday, FBI officials told MailOnline that official photos would be released later on Thursday.

Certain reporters saw the FBI photos and footage prior to the release. A Fox News reporter said that they were 'clear' and showed two individuals holding bags.

This picture was taken from exactly the same angle as the camera from Lord and Taylor which is believed to have shown someone walking towards the mail box before dropping a package and walking away

NBC reported that footage showed one man who 'dashed away' from one of the two bombing sites.

'Every hour we're closer, and I say that because we've got the very best professionals at every level working this. And working it hard,' Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick said.

Because of the crowded nature of the finish line, authorities are parsing through a combination of civilian footage and security tapes from nearby businesses. Reports of surveillance footage from a nearby Lord and Taylor's department store gave initial hope about having the suspects pictured.

Tragic: The third victim of the blast was identified as graduate student Lu Lingzi, 23, whose family are now on their way from China to the U.S. to claim her body

Krystle Campbell. Campbell, 29, (left) a restaurant manager from Medford, Mass., was among the people killed in the explosions at the finish line of the Boston Marathon as was eight-year-old Martin Richard (right)

'It’s a crowd, there are a lot of different angles. It is not like some television-produced video — there’s a lot that isn’t clear, but most interpretations support the notion that one man is seen dropping a bag,' an unidentified official told The New York Times.

'There are several videos with people in them, and we’re looking to talk to more than one guy. It’s still very squishy but there are a lot of interesting people.'

According to CBS News senior correspondent John Miller the big debate right now among law enforcement is whether to release the images of the men to the public.

'It's been a tough call,' said Miller. 'For investigators, there's always a difficult choice because if the person doesn't know you're looking for him, he may stay in place, you may catch up to him,' said Miller.

'If he does know you're looking for him, he may run. On the other hand, if you don't get him, it's always great to enlist 20 million or so more eyes in the public who may be able to give you a location right away.

'That's not going to happen tonight anymore. It was going to happen earlier -- they've rethought that. It may happen with the release of that picture tomorrow. They're reassessing.'

Another avenue of the investigation is a list of cell phone logs that authorities are trolling through to determine who made calls from that location near the time of the explosions.

The pressure cooker lid was found on top of the Charlesmark Hotel which is 35 yards away from the explosion site - such was the force of the blast

The FBI is working with a list of names of cell phone owners and attempting to match one of those to the unknown man on the surveillance.

Authorities have said they are seeking this man either as a witness or indeed as a possible suspect and do not know his name. At this point, federal officials stressed no arrests have been made.

City Council President Stephen Murphy, who said he was briefed by Boston police, said investigators saw the image on surveillance footage they got from a department store near the finish line and matched the findings with witness descriptions of someone leaving the scene.

'I know it's very active and very fluid right now — that they are on the chase,' Murphy said. He added: 'They may be on the verge of arresting someone, and that's good.'

The bombs were crudely fashioned from ordinary kitchen pressure cookers packed with explosives, nails and ball bearings, investigators and others close to the case said. Investigators suspect the devices were then hidden in black duffel bags and left on the ground.

As a result, they were looking for images of someone lugging a dark, heavy bag.

Second Bomb: Photos show a bag next to a mailbox along the marathon route and may have been the footage used by the FBI to positively ID a suspect

Shocking: Seconds after the bombs went off on Boylston Street there is no sign of the bag, the picture is blurred because of the graphic nature of the content

On Tuesday, crime scene photographs of the remnants of the first bomb which detonated during Monday's Boston marathon showed that a six-liter pressure cooker was used in at least one of the deadly charges - and experts described the devices as military-style 'anti-personnel' devices. The images - released by the Joint Terrorist Task Force - show the wreckage of a stainless steel pressure cooker with an Underwriters Laboratory safety mark and an imprint that reads gas or electric. Furthermore, it was claimed the deadly devices used were designed to act like 'homemade claymores' - powerful, directional anti-personnel devices. Described as using a 'low explosive', most likely black or smokeless powder, the bombs are reported to have exploded outwards with shrapnel at 3,300 feet per second. The lid of a pressure cooker was found on a nearby rooftop and investigators were able to pinpoint which type of cooker was used. One brand of pressure cooker with '6L' on the bottom is made by the Spanish company Fagor, which sells about 50,000 of the six-liter pots in the United States every year. Roy Parker, a retired Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives agent who ­developed the agency’s explosives training program, said examiners are looking at scraps of the bomb components, bags and all other forensic evidence. He said: 'You’re looking for a needle in a haystack, but the needle is there. If you look long enough, you’ll get stuck with it. This is not an unsolvable crime.' Another avenue of the investigation is a list of cell phone logs that authorities are trolling through to determine who made calls from that location near the time of the explosions. The FBI is working with a list of names of cell phone owners and attempting to match one of those to the unknown man on the surveillance.



