PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The Rhode Island State Police SWAT team, its K-9 unit and state fire marshall's personnel are heading to Boston to assist in the investigation, said Col Steven O'Donnell, superintendent of the State Police.
O'Donnell said Col. Timothy Alben called him early Friday morning asking for support units. The units will be deployed until further notice, O'Donnell said.
"We have a close relationship," O'Donnell said, noting the Rhode Island officers regularly train with their Massachusetts counterparts. Their last joint training was about two weeks ago.
The Rhode Island State Fire Marshal's Office has also sent members of its bomb squad to UMass-Dartmouth, which this morning evacuated its campus amid reports that Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev, 19, of Cambridge, Mass., may be a student.