'FBI True' Remembers Boston Marathon Bombing 10 Years Later With Firsthand Accounts (Exclusive)

FBI True is taking viewers inside the world of law enforcement during the horrifying days surrounding the Boston Marathon bombing. A decade after the April 15, 2013 domestic terrorist attack, the CBS docuseries is bringing new stories from the aftermath of the bombing to light in its Tuesday, Oct. 24 episode, and PopCulture.com has exclusive insight from two of the people who helped bring justice to the victims of the attack. 

Rick DesLauriers, who finished his almost three decades of service at the FBI as Special Agent in Charge of the Boston field office, recalled to PopCulture the moment he learned of the explosions near the Boston Marathon finish line, being "horrified" as news of "catastrophic injuries" rolled in. 

With bombers Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev on the loose and time as their enemy, DesLauriers worked with federal, state and local law enforcement to track down the brothers. Tamerlan died after being shot during a confrontation with police in Watertown, which is where John MacLellan, a retired police sergeant, was serving as a patrol officer at the time. MacLellan would be awarded two years later with the Medal of Valor, the highest national award for a public safety officer. Dzhokhar was captured by police on April 19 and was sentenced to death. 

Despite his own memories of peril, MacLellan hopes people leave Tuesday's FBI True with a renewed remembrance for the victims of the bombing. "If people could just remember the victims, remember the people that are still suffering from this, whether they were on Boylston Street that day and were hurt, physically or mentally hurt," he told PopCulture. "Then all the police officers and firefighters and EMTs that had to see the stuff that they had to see that day. I just hope they all heal and get through it, and come out happier on the other side."

DesLauriers has a similar hope, recalling his emotional response to the permanent memorials on Boylston Street when he returned to the sites of the bombing for the 10th anniversary in April. "I can't walk by there without having tears in my eyes, thinking about first and foremost the victims of the bombing, those deceased as well as those fortunate to be alive today," he said. 

DesLauriers also thinks of the "great efforts" of law enforcement in the aftermath of the bombing, which was critical to apprehending the Tsarnaevs after the "most intense week of [his] life." In the days after Dzhokhar was apprehended, DesLauriers recalls visiting some of the surviving victims of the bombing. "Every time I went in to meet one of the victims, they were grievously injured, and many of them had had legs amputated below the knee," he recalled. "None of them were complaining. They were all so strong and they were thinking about practical things like, how do I get up and down the stairs at my house now? ... The strength that they displayed was one of the most remarkable things I'd ever seen in my life, and it always brought tears to my eyes." See more of their insider stories on FBI True when it airs on CBS Tuesday, Oct. 24 at 9 p.m. ET.