A man has been accused to attempting to detonate a bomb he said was “double the size” of the device used in the deadly 2013 Boston Marathon bombing outside of a hospital in the United Kingdom.
The man behind the alleged attempt, Mohammed Farooq, 28, was arrested under suspicion of targeting St James’s Hospital in Leeds where he worked on January 20, 2023.
On Wednesday, June 19, the Sheffield Crown Court reviewed his interview transcripts following his arrest where he denied preparing acts of terrorism but plead guilty to possessing an explosive substance with intent, per BBC News.
Farooq also plead guilty to possessing a document that would be useful to someone who was planning or committing an act of terrorism.
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According to the outlet, Farooq revealed that the pressure cooker bomb contained about 7kg (15 lb.) of gunpowder and could “blow [up] a room” when asked about the power of the alleged explosive.
“It should have been double the size of the Boston Marathon bomb,” the clinical support worker said, adding others were not involved and the attempt was a “lone job.” In 2013, the Boston Marathon bombing killed three people and injured more than 250 others (with at least 17 of the surviving victims losing their limbs in the terrorist attack).
Runners compete in the Boston Marathon one year after the attack. Corbis via Getty Images / Getty Images
Elsewhere in his interview, Farooq explained his motives behind the bomb and claimed he wanted to scare his colleagues for “parring round rumors about me.”
“This has been building up for about one year now,” the outlet reports he said. “There’s only so much a person can take.”
“I wasn’t going to hurt nobody,” he continued and revealed that he sent a text message of warning to the manager to “scare them” and “get a bit of revenge.”
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“Just to see the look of fear in their faces, that’s all,” Farooq added. “I look after patients, that’s my job, I don’t want to hurt more people and send them to hospital.”
According to the outlet, Farooq confided his intentions to a patient at the hospital named Nathan Newby, who told him that his plan “wasn’t worth it.” Then, he told Newby to “ring the police.”
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After his arrest, Det Con Maisie Stevens, of West Yorkshire Police said officers found gunpowder, a blank-firing gun, nails and two knives in his posession and other weapons in his home in Leeds.
Upon searching the property, they also found ingredients for explosives and “numerous fuses.”
BOSTON (WHDH) – The maker of the online learning platform Canvas has reportedly reached a deal wit the hackers who took down the site last week to get their data back.
The company did not reveal what was given to the hackers in exchange for the return of more than 275 million users’ data, but said they confirmed the data was detroyed.
Canvas was down for several hours last week because of the cyberattack.
The hacking group said nearly 9,000 schools worldwide were impacted, including Harvard University.
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They said they accessed billions of private messages and personal information.
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Investigators identified Tyler Brown of Boston as the man who allegedly opened fire on Memorial Drive in Cambridge, Massachusetts, leaving two victims with life-threatening injuries.
Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan said Brown fired 50 to 60 shots on the busy road shortly after 1 p.m. Monday.
Two male victims were hit in vehicles, Ryan said. They are in critical condition and fighting for their lives.
A Massachusetts State Police trooper and a civilian with a license to carry a firearm went toward the gunman and fired their weapons at him. Officers treated Brown at the scene, and he was brought to a Boston hospital, where he is in intensive care, according to the district attorney.
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This video shared with NBC10 Boston appears to show a man opening fire at cars on Memorial Drive in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Monday, May 11, 2026.
Authorities have, so far, shared limited information about the suspect.
“Mr. Brown is from Boston, and apparently was in the process of moving here. We understand that Mr. Brown was under the supervision of either the Massachusetts Probation Department or Department of Parole,” Ryan said.
She did not elaborate on why Brown may have been on probation or parole.
“We will address Mr. Brown’s criminal record, if any, at the arraignment,” she said.
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Ryan added that she did not know enough about Brown’s condition to say whether he would be arraigned in court or in a hospital bed. The timing was also not clear.
He will face two counts of armed assault with intent to murder and firearms charges, and “a variety of other charges as we unfold what took place, exactly, and we have a chance to speak to the many, many people who were out there,” Ryan said.
An inbound stretch of Storrow Drive and Soldiers Field Road will be closed each night through August for tunnel repairs, officials announced.
Starting Monday, the closures will begin at 8 p.m. and last until 5 a.m., state officials said.
Road closures begin at North Harvard Street in Allston and stretch along the Charles River Esplanade to Mugar Way in Boston, near the Hatch Memorial Shell, officials said.
Traffic will be detoured into Cambridge over the Anderson Bridge, along Memorial Drive, and then be routed into Boston over the Longfellow Bridge.
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The closures will allow ongoing repairs to the Storrow Drive Tunnel in the Back Bay.The work is the first phase of a two-stage project to extend the lifespan of the tunnel, which carries roughly 50,000 drivers to and from downtown Boston daily.
The outbound portion of the tunnel and accompanying roadways will not be affected.
State transportation officials said changes to the work schedule will be made when necessary to minimize impacts during major local events at TD Garden, Fenway Park, or during the FIFA World Cup and 250th anniversary celebrations scheduled for this summer.
Additional changes may be made without notice due to weather.
Transportation officials have not specified when the closures will end.
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Bryan Hecht can be reached at bryan.hecht@globe.com. Follow him on Instagram @bhechtjournalism.
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