Boston man who watched terror shootout from his home

A resident of Watertown, near Boston, has spoken of how he ended up with a front-row seat for the gun battle between the Tsarnaev brothers and police early last Friday.

Andrew Kitzenberg took dramatic pictures of the suspects shooting guns and setting off explosives.

He told the BBC's Ian Pannell he had been both terrified and curious.

Houses are pockmarked with bullet holes and it is remarkable no residents were hurt, our correspondent says.

Police say Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, was killed in the course of the gunfight in the early hours of Friday 19 April.

He was reportedly run over by his 19-year-old brother Dzhokhar, who was making a desperate bid to escape.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was discovered the following evening hidden in a boat parked outside a house on a nearby street.

Mr Kitzenberg's bedroom on Laurel Street gave him a bird's eye view of the battle that erupted and he used his position to snap a series of images.

In one both men are hiding behind a black 4x4.

In another they appear to be pointing a weapon down the street at police.

"I had a very clear view of them standing up with backpacks under them that also had additional ammunition and explosives and I could see them bending down and reaching in and getting things out of their backpacks, which included their explosives and their pressure-cooker bomb," Mr Fitzenberg said.

There are holes gouged out in the road surface from the explosions believed to have come from homemade bombs, our correspondent reports.

Many of the houses around the area are scarred with bullet holes.

This included in Mr Kitzenberg's house, where a bullet passed through a wall and then pierced a desk chair inside.

"It [was] absolutely terrifying and in the moment I think I was just overwhelmed with shock and adrenalin and curiosity, which is what drove me to take pictures - but it really hit me after," Mr Kitzenberg said.

On his blog, he wrote: "These kind of horrifying events make you realize how precious life really is and the need to cherish every moment you have.

"You quickly reflect on the people that surround you and how important those relationships are in your life."

Some of Mr Kitzenberg's images show the two suspects taking cover behind a black 4x4 and pointing firearms at police.

The suspects' green sedan is visible in several of the pictures

Bullet holes can be seen in the wall of Mr Kitzenberg's office wall and desk chair.

As dawn broke the bomb squad inspected the suspects' vehicle and the surrounding area, fearing that explosive devices were in the vicinity

Armed agents went on to search and evacuate all the homes on the street, including Mr Kitzenberg's.