Neighborhood Mourns Loss of 8-Year-Old Following Boston Blasts

Martin Richard’s father released a statement on Tuesday along with this photo.

BOSTON â€" Bill Richard, the father of the 8-year-old boy who was killed in Monday’s deadly explosions at the Boston Marathon, released a statement on Tuesday thanking everyone for their thoughts and prayers and asking for “patience and for privacy as we work to simultaneously grieve and recover.”

“My dear son Martin has died from injuries sustained in the attack on Boston,” the statement read. “My wife and daughter are both recovering from serious injuries. We thank our family and friends, those we know and those we have never met, for their thoughts and prayers. I ask that you continue to pray for my family as we remember Martin. We also ask for your patience and for privacy as we work to simultaneously grieve and recover.”

The street outside the family’s home in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston was filled with reporters and television cameras on Tuesday. Mourners had already stopped to leave flowers in the front yard.

A neighbor, Jane Sherman, 64, described the Richard children as “very active, very normal American kids.” Ms. Sherman, a real estate agent, said she would often see the children playing outside the house.

“They’re very happy-go-lucky kids,” she said. “All of Dorchester is devastated.”

The boy’s father, Bill Richard, returned home around 10:30 p.m. on Monday, Ms. Sherman said. “He was white as a sheet,” she said.

Ms. Sherman said she went to his house and asked him if everything was all right, but he did not respond. A friend who was with him then told Ms. Sherman that Martin had died in the attack, she said.

She recalled on Tuesday that the Richard family had been skiing together over the winter. As for Dorchester, she said, it is a “very diverse, wonderful, family-oriented neighborhood.”

Heartbreak. Only 8 years-old. Martin Richard. http://t.co/xO5vQYELB4 #wbz http://t.co/qwX2mKFbQU

â€" David Wade (@davidwade) 16 Apr 13