As you can see, over the last 10 to 20 minutes there have been multiple conflicting reports about whether a suspect has been identified, placed in custody or been arrested in the Boston marathon bombings. Our current feature story says a suspect is in custody. We are currently following the Associated Press and the Boston Globe, both of which – apparently independently and based on their own sources – are reporting that a suspect is in custody. Meanwhile, on the air, CNN now appears to be backing off their reports of an arrest or a suspect in custody. NBC continues to say, no one in custody. There’s some confusion, perhaps a semantic distinction, between being under arrest and in custody – not precisely the same thing. I suspect that in a very short while, the confusion will resolve itself. But this is the terrain of conflicting accounts as of 2:40 PM.

For now, we’re following the AP and the Globe.

Late Update: The AP now says the feds are denying a suspect is in custody.

Welcome to the brave new (kind of neat and also chilling) world of real-time chat forum amateur bombing investigators.