By Zachary Sampson and John R. Ellement, Globe Correspondent and Globe Staff

Two men were shot and killed this afternoon in the parking lot of the Walgreens store on Warren Street in Roxbury, Boston police said. Police sealed off the parking lot where a silver sedan sat with a back window shattered. The rear window on the driver’s side of one of the cars has been shot apart. A man was killed in a separate shooting on Prentiss Street around 12:42 a.m. today.

By Wesley Lowery, Globe Staff

Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the Boston Marathon suspect whose life came to a violent end on a Watertown street, died from gunshot wounds to the torso and extremities and from blunt trauma to the head and torso, according to the death certificate issued by the Massachusetts medical examiner. The document, viewed by the Globe on Friday, shows that Tsarnaev was pronounced dead at 1:35 a.m. April 19. The death certificate also states that Tsarnaev was shot by police, and run over and dragged by a vehicle.

By Lauren Dezenski, Milton J. Valencia and John R. Ellement, Globe Correspondent and Globe Staff

The owner of the Worcester funeral home where the body of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev is now being held said he was not making a statement about the alleged crimes of Tsarnaev and his younger brother, Dzhokhar.

“I’m not honoring a terrorist. I’m just burying a body,” Peter Stefan, owner of Graham Putnam & Mahoney Funeral Parlors, told the Telegram & Gazette today.

Stefan was quoted by the newspaper as saying that he believes that everyone should be treated with dignity after their death. He said he is prepared to face protests.

By Peter Schworm and Brian Ballou, Globe Staff

Governor Deval Patrick said Friday that authorities will do “everything humanly possible,” to make the July Fourth celebration along the Charles River safe, following revelations that the suspects in the Boston Marathon bombings had initially targeted the event.

Speaking to reporters at the graduation ceremony for Northeastern University, Patrick said law enforcement officials would be carefully reviewing security measures for the concert and fireworks display, which draws some 500,000 people to the Charles River Esplanade.

“We’re going to do everything we can, everything humanly possible, to make it as safe as possible,” he said. “It’s very important, at the same time, that people remain vigilant and be on a special level of vigilance in this coming year.”

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The main suspects: Tamerlan Tsarnaev (Tah-mer-LAN Tsar –NAH-yev). Killed in Watertown shootout April 19. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (Ja-HAR Tsar-NAH-yev). Tamerlan’s younger brother. Captured in Watertown on April 20 and held in a prison medical facility at Fort Devens, about 40 miles west the city

They moved from Kyrgyzstan (KEER –gyz – stan), a Central Asian nation. They also lived in Dagestan (DAH –guess-stan), a predominantly Muslim, semi-autonomous region of the Russian Federation in the North Caucasus mountain range, historically one of the most restive parts of Russia.

The Tsarnaevs are ethnic Chechens on their father’s side. Chechnya (CHECH-nya) is also a predominantly Muslim semi-autonomous region in the Caucasus. It was the site of two devastating wars between Russian forces and Islamic separatists.

By Todd Feathers, Globe Correspondent

A man in Brockton exchanged gunfire with State Police troopers assigned to the gang unit Thursday night, a burst of violence that left bullet holes in the cruiser, but no one wounded, State Police said. The alleged shooter was arrested after the 7:55 p.m. incident on Amherst Street in the South Shore city, State Police said. The incident began while State and Brockton police were conducting an investigation on the street, State Police said.

By Brian MacQuarrie, Globe staff

Federal authorities said they were searching various locations in Dartmouth today as part of the investigation into the Boston Marathon bombing.

The authorities are looking for further clues in the probe into two UMass Dartmouth classmates of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev who, along with a Cambridge man, have been charged with trying to destroy or cover up evidence linking Tsarnaev the April 15 bombing. Tsarnaev’s friends are not implicated in the actual bombing plot.

According to authorities, one of the friends, Dias Kadyrbayev, told them he took a laptop and a backpack from Tsarnaev’s dorm room after seeing Tsarnaev in photos released by the FBI on April 18 during a desperate search for the bombing suspects. Kadyrbayev helped discard the backpack, which held an array of fireworks.

By Peter Schworm, Globe Staff

Amid revelations that alleged Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was attending UMass Dartmouth despite an outstanding bill of more than $20,000, the college said that students can remain enrolled without full payment if loans and financial aid are expected to come through.

A university spokesman declined to discuss the Tsarnaev situation in particular, citing federal privacy law. But he said students in certain circumstances may continue their classes with significant bills for tuition and room and board.

“A student who has an outstanding bill in general would still be allowed to register if they can document extenuating circumstances,” said John Hoey, the university’s assistant chancellor for public affairs. “We monitor it throughout the year.”

By Globe Staff

A man was shot to death and a woman wounded in a double shooting early today in a Roxbury apartment, Boston police said. A police spokeswoman said officers responded to a report of a person screaming in an apartment on 41 Prentiss St. at 12:42 a.m. and found a man fatally wounded and a woman with a gunshot wound. Police said the man was pronounced dead at the scene and the woman was taken to Brigham and Woman’s Hospital.

By Brian MacQuarrie, Maria Sacchetti, and David Filipov, Globe Staff

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the surviving suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings, told federal investigators that he and his brother initially planned to detonate explosives at Boston’s vaunted July 4th celebration on the Charles River Esplanade, according to two officials briefed on the interrogation. When the brothers built the bombs faster than they had anticipated, they then drove around Boston and Cambridge sometime before Marathon day, casing police stations, with an alternative plan to launch an attack on law enforcement officers, one of the officials said.

By David Filipov, Globe Staff

The two Kazakh students arrested Wednesday in the Boston Marathon bombing investigation are not accused of being part of the plot to set off the bombs, but questions have arisen about the novelty license plate that appeared on the front of the BMW they drove, which bore the words “Terrorista #1.” Azamat Tazhayakov and Dias Kadyrbayev come off as fun-loving teens who did not realize what they were getting into when they allegedly disposed of a backpack and laptop belonging to Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who is accused of planting the bombs that killed three and injured more than 260.

By Mark Arsenault and Travis Anderson, Globe Staff

PROVIDENCE — Before more than 1,000 ecstatic supporters, Governor Lincoln Chafee on Thursday signed legislation making Rhode Island the 10th stateto permit gays and lesbians to marry and establishing gay marriage as the law of land throughout New England.

“Today, we are making history,” Chafee told the crowd. “We are living up to the ideals of our founders.”

He also cast the bill in economic terms, saying vital new businesses want to come to places that reflect their values, “and now, Rhode Island does.”

Even as gay couples won the right to marry in neighboring states over the past decade, the political and religious opposition in Rhode Island remained formidable, with bills repeatedly failing in the Legislature.

By Milton J. Valencia, Globe Staff

The family of Tamerlan Tsarnaev picked up the body of the alleged Boston Marathon bomber from the state medical examiner’s office this afternoon, a state official said. Terrel Harris, a spokesman for the office, said the body was picked up at 5:30 p.m. Local television helicopters followed the hearse, reporting that it went to a funeral home in North Attleborough.

By Lauren Dezenski, Globe Correspondent

A one-alarm fire damaged a two-and-a-half story home in Dorchester early this afternoon, Boston Fire Department spokesman Steve MacDonald said. The home’s owner said he and his wife had been injured in the Boston Marathon bombing. Fire was showing from the rear of the wood-frame home at 331 Ashmont St. when firefighters arrived at 1:15 p.m., MacDonald said in an official tweet.

By Todd Feathers, Globe Staff

A Roxbury man is facing charges for kicking and hitting a man with a floor tile while robbing him of $20 he had just withdrawn from a Mission Hill ATM, prosecutors said. The man had originally told police he was the victim of the attack. Torin Traynor, 27, was arraigned April 24 in West Roxbury District Court for two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, assault and battery, and unarmed robbery. A not-guilty plea was entered on his behalf and he was released on his own recognizance.

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The founder of a Cape Cod charity that stole tens of thousands of dollars meant for struggling families was convicted today of more than two dozen charges related to the scheme, prosecutors said. A Barnstable Superior Court jury convicted 42-year-old Gina Clark, of Marstons Mills, and her charity, Touched by Angels, a non-profit that claimed to take donations on behalf of families who had lost loved ones or were struggling to pay overwhelming medical bills.

By Brock Parker and Lauren Dezenski, Globe Correspondents

Residents escaped without injury from a raging three-alarm fire in Watertown this morning and a dog may have helped to save their lives, fire officials said. Deputy Fire Chief Rob Iannetta said this morning that a dog’s bark apparently helped to wake people up. Fire Inspector Stephen Igoe said he had overheard that a dog may have alerted some people in the house to the fire, but smoke detectors alerted people on the second floor. A total of 10 people were displaced from the two-family home.

By Brian Ballou and Martin Finucane, Globe Staff

A Methuen High School student was charged this morning with threatening to outdo the Boston Marathon bombings, allegedly posting his deadly intentions on his Facebook page. Lawrence District Court Judge Lynn Rooney ordered Cameron Dambrosio held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing and a probable cause hearing that was scheduled for May 9. Dambrosio, 18, was dressed in a blue T-shirt with a picture of rapper ODB on the front and gray pants.

By Lauren Dezenski, Globe Correspondent

Boston College has warned students of a possible mumps outbreak on campus, university officials said, though no cases have been confirmed. “Clinical evaluations suggest the likelihood of a positive diagnosis among several BC students,” BC Health Services Director Dr. Thomas Nary said in an e-mail sent to members of the college community Thursday. Roughly a dozen students have presented mumps-like symptoms, BC spokesman Jack Dunn said, but all tests for the mumps virus came back negative.

By Todd Feathers, Globe Correspondent

Investigators have determined that the Allston fire that killed a Boston University student last week was caused by the careless disposal of smoking materials, the Boston Fire Department said today. The department said it based its conclusions on the burn patterns inside the three-story house at 87 Linden St., interviews with the former residents, and other physical evidence collected by fire investigators. Binland Lee, 22, a marine sciences major from Brooklyn, NY, lived on the third floor and was fatally injured during the fire.

By Akilah Johnson, Globe Staff

Federal agents swooped into a Beacon Hill church today, armed with search warrants. The investigators, from the FBI and IRS, arrived this morning and remained at the Swedenborgian Church on the Hill through midafternoon. People were not allowed into the church, which sits across from the State House. Residents, however, could enter the Bostonview apartment building, which appears to be owned by the church. FBI spokeswoman Allison Mahan said federal investigators were executing a search warrant at the church.

By Maria Sacchetti and Martin Finucane, Globe Staff

The government of Kazakhstan emphasized today that two young Kazakhs charged in the Boston Marathon bombings probe were not charged with any involvement in the bombings themselves. “We would like to emphasize that our citizens did not receive charges of involvement in the organization of Boston marathon bombings. They were charged with destroying evidence,” the Kazakh Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement posted on its website.

By Martin Finucane, Globe Staff

Edward Dolan, commissioner of the Department of Youth Services, has been named as the new commissioner of the Probation Service, court leaders said today. “We are pleased to appoint a respected criminal justice professional of Ed Dolan’s caliber to head the Massachusetts Probation Service,” Trial Court Chief Justice Robert A. Mulligan and Court Administrator Harry Spence said in a statement.

By Todd Feathers, Globe Correspondent

Testing for the Muddy River restoration project that produced loud, gunshot-like bangs audible throughout parts of Boston and Brookline on Wednesday will continue today — and run through next week. From 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. today the US Army Corps of Engineers will conduct strength tests on components of a new flood-prevention system being installed on a stretch of the river near the Landmark Center, the US Army Corps of Engineers said.

By Lauren Dezenski, Globe Correspondent

Too much of a good thing? With all the sun and warmth recently, and no precipitation in sight until the middle of next week, the National Weather Service is warning of the increased likelihood of brush fires across the state and southern New England. This afternoon, a cold front will move across the region, bringing wind gusts up to 30 miles per hour, potentially igniting fuels such as leaves and brush that have become “dangerously dry,” forecasters said.

By Lauren Dezenski, Globe Correspondent

MassBay Community College has established a scholarship in honor of Krystle Campbell, a 2005 graduate killed in the Boston Marathon bombings, MassBay said Wednesday. “We couldn’t think of a better way to honor her legacy on campus than providing needed funds for students who are coming here for the same reason she did,” MassBay spokesman Jeremy Solomon said.

By John R. Ellement, Globe Staff

US District Court Judge Denise J. Casper today dealt a major setback to James “Whitey” Bulger’s defense, ruling that the notorious South Boston gangster cannot claim during his trial that federal law enforcement officials immunized him from prosecution. “The government’s motion to preclude Bulger from arguing his claim of immunity to the jury as a defense at trial ... is allowed,’’ Casper wrote in a 31-page ruling released this morning. “The Court has determined that the issue of immunity is not an issue for the jury.’’

By Martine Powers, Globe Staff

Commuters, rejoice: Free wi-fi is coming to South Station, starting today. Officials at Google announced today that they are sponsoring wireless Internet access throughout South Station, provided free of charge to customers in partnership with Biederman Redevelopment Ventures.

By Travis Andersen, Globe Staff

Prosecutors and defense lawyers in the upcoming trial of James “Whitey” Bulger want to ask prospective jurors about their interest in Boston noir and their views on marijuana, among other topics in an effort to seat an impartial jury to decide the fate of the notorious gangster. On Tuesday, lawyers for both sides submitted a proposed list of 51 questions that they would like potential jurors to answer in writing during the selection process.

By John R. Ellement, Todd Wallack, Maria Sacchetti, Matt Carroll and Martin Finucane, Globe Staff

Two men from Kazakhstan and a man from Cambridge were arrested and charged today in the Boston Marathon bombings investigation, federal prosecutors said. Azamat Tazhayakov and Dias Kadyrbayev, both 19 and of New Bedford, were charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice by plotting to dispose of a laptop computer and a backpack containing fireworks belonging to bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. Robel Phillipos, 19, of Cambridge was charged with making false statements to law enforcement officials in a terrorism investigation, prosecutors said.

By Adrian Walker, Globe Staff

State Representative Nick Collins today conceded the First Suffolk Senate District election to state Representative Linda Dorcena Forry, a Haitian-American from Dorchester who is now expected to claim a seat long held by Irish-American men from South Boston. Collins issued a concession statement this morning.With 100 percent of votes tallied, the City of Boston’s unofficial results Tuesday night showed Forry holding a lead of 378 votes over South Boston’s Collins, out of a total of 21,730 votes cast in the three-way race.

By Martine Powers, Globe Staff

Almost two weeks after MBTA Transit Police Officer Richard Donohue was injured during a shootout with the alleged Boston Marathon bombers, the recovering officer released a statement Wednesdaythanking police and first responders who saved his life and community members who have supported his family. “I am now awake, moving around, talking, and telling jokes,” Donohue wrote in the statement, “much to my Wife’s dismay.” Donohue had been shot in the groin early in the morning of April 19 in Watertown.

By Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff

Mayor Thomas M. Menino vowed today to begin the transformation of the main library in Copley Square before he leaves City Hall, saying the granite facade of the Johnson Building will be replaced with glass to open it to Boylston Street. Menino also said in a speech to the Boston College Chief Executives’ Club of Boston that there would be a vote on a proposed casino at Suffolk Downs before the end of 2013. And he pledged to begin the search to replace School Superintendent Carol R. Johnson.

By Maria Sacchetti, Globe Staff

Two Kazakh men associated with the alleged Boston Marathon bombers went before a federal immigration judge this morning on allegations they violated their student visas. The men were detained for civil immigration violations after authorities questioned them about their possible connection to Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who allegedly detonated two bombs at the Boston Marathon this month, killing three people and injuring more than 200. The Tsarnaevs also allegedly murdered MIT Police Officer Sean Collier.

Loud testing at the Muddy River restoration project will take place this afternoon on a stretch of the river near the Landmark Center in the Fenway neighborhood, according to the US Army Corps of Engineers. The tests on support structures for the project, will produce loud, gunshot-like bangs as engineers work to fix the Muddy River’s chronic flooding problems, officials said. In the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings, the project’s managers, local officials and State Police have launched a campaign to notify area residents not to be alarmed by the sounds.

By Lauren Dezenski, Globe Correspondent

A two-alarm fire tore through an Indian restaurant in Cambridge’s Central Square early today, according to the Cambridge Fire Department. Firefighters responded to the India Pavilion restaurant at 17 Central Square just before 6 a.m., a Cambridge fire official said. By 6:30 a.m., the fire was knocked down. Investigators were still on the scene just before 8 a.m. The cause of the fire remains under investigation. No further information was immediately available. No injuries were reported.

By Martin Finucane and Michael Levenson, Globe Staff

Will he be the next Scott Brown? Gabriel E. Gomez, a 47-year-old son of immigrants who became a Navy pilot and SEAL before becoming a private equity investor, won the Republican nomination tonight for the US Senate special election to replace John F. Kerry, bringing a fresh face to a race that had drawn scant interest from an electorate distracted by the Boston Marathon bombings. Meanwhile, veteran US Representative Edward J. Markey beat fellow Representative Stephen F. Lynch in the race for the Democratic nod.

By David Filipov, Todd Wallack and Lisa Wangsness, Globe Staff

The widow of suspected marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev said Tuesday she would let other family members claim his body, which has been kept at the Massachusetts Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for more than a week. Under Islamic law, Muslims are customarily buried shortly after they die, normally within a day. But Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s widow, Katherine Russell, has not claimed the body and the state refused to release the body to other family members without her permission.

By Brian Ballou, Globe Staff

The owner of the Allston building where a Boston University student died in a fire this weekend was cited today for operating an illegal rooming house because she allegedly allowed 19 people to live in a two-family home. Anna Belokurova was also cited for failing to obtain proper permits before creating bedrooms in the basement of the building at 87 Linden St., the scene of a three-alarm fire Sunday that killed Binland Lee, a 22-year-old BU marine sciences student from Brooklyn, N.Y.

By Jeremy C. Fox, Globe Correspondent

One man suffered a life-threatening injury and a second a minor wound in a shooting in Roxbury’s Highland Park section Monday night, Boston police said. A 911 call came in just past 9 p.m. and reported the incident on Beech Glen St., said Officer Katherine Shea, a police spokeswoman.

By Jim O’Sullivan, Andrew Ryan and Meghan Irons, Globe Staff

Voters are taking the first step today in choosing a Senate successor to Secretary of State John F. Kerry, as two Democrats and three Republicans vie to win their respective party primary elections. US Representatives Stephen F. Lynch and Edward J. Markey are seeking the Democratic nod. On the Republican side of the ballot, private equity investor Gabriel E. Gomez, former US attorney Michael J. Sullivan, and state Representative Daniel B. Winslow are competing.

By Wesley Lowery and Todd Feathers, Globe Staff and Correspondent

Local and state officials today downplayed a mishap that meant some wards in Boston were provided with a ballot that did not show the special election primary for the First Suffolk state Senate seat. The erroneous ballots were delivered to one ward in South Boston, but city election officials recovered the faulty ballots by 8 a.m., said Brian McNiff, a spokesman for Secretary of State William Galvin. City election officials said that ballots that only included the US Senate race were delivered to two wards, Wards 6 and 7.

By Todd Feathers, Globe Correspondent

A 14-year-old Mattapan girl is charged with setting fire to the front door of Chez Vous, a beleaguered roller-skating rink in Dorchester that provides an oasis from gang violence, prosecutors said. Around 120 people were inside the building when the girl allegedly shoved burning paper underneath the door, sparking the fire, Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said in a statement.

By Lauren Dezenski, Globe Correspondent

It’s not clear what caused 5,000 NStar customers to briefly lose power in Cambridge this morning, NStar spokesman Mike Durand said. The power went out at 9:45 a.m., though service was restored to all customers at about 10:15 a.m., Durand said. Crews are investigating an issue on a nearby transmission line as a possible cause, he said.

By Lauren Dezenski and Brian Ballou, Globe Correspondent and Globe Staff

A school bus carrying Lexington-bound Metco students crashed in Newton today, sending 34 middle school students to local hospitals with minor injuries, State Police said. The three-vehicle crash took place around 7:30 a.m. on the westbound lanes of Route 9 near the intersection with Woodcliff Road in Newton, State Police said in a statement.

By Mark Arsenault, Globe Staff

Springfield Mayor Domenic J. Sarno today announced he has chosen the $800 million casino plan offered by MGM Resorts International as the city’s candidate for the sole casino license to be awarded in Western Massachusetts. “This is our moment. This is our time. We need to rally behind this game-changing development,’’ Sarno said today. “MGM has assured me they will make this the marquee project in an urban setting in America.”

By Evan Allen and Todd Feathers, Globe Correspondents

Loud testing at the Muddy River restoration project that was originally scheduled for today on a stretch of the river near the Landmark Center has been delayed, and will not begin until Wednesday afternoon, according to the project office. The tests, conducted by the Army Corps of Engineers on support structures for the project, will produce loud, gunshot-like bangs. In the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings, officials launched a campaign to notify area residents not to be alarmed.

By Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff

The crowd descended on Boston City Hall shortly after sunrise: Scores of campaign operatives, political newcomers, and perennial candidates running for mayor and city council. Office supply stores sold out of clipboards. Grown men nearly sprinted across City Hall Plaza with a brown bundle of paperwork — their candidate’s nomination papers — tucked under their arms like footballs. Forget the primary for US Senate. Today is signature day in the most wide-open Boston election in a generation.

By Bryan Bender, , Globe Staff

The nation’s top spy on Monday requested a broad review into “the US government’s handling of intelligence information leading up to the Boston Marathon bombings,” according to an internal memo obtained by the Globe. The memo is the latest evidence of concern that warning signs may have been missed that could have prevented the worst terrorist assault on American soil since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

By John R. Ellement, Globe Staff

In her first major ruling since taking control of the James “Whitey” Bulger trial, US District Court Judge Denise J. Casper today rejected Bulger’s demand for the name of a confidential FBI informant who helped the government seize Bulger’s share of a winning 1991 Massachusetts lottery ticket.