Tsarnaev Brothers Originally Planned Attack for July 4

Finished bombs sooner than expected

The Boston Marathon bombing suspects initially planned to attack the city's 4 July Independence Day celebrations, US media have reported.

But they finished making the bombs more quickly than expected at Tamerlan Tsarnaev's home, anonymous US officials are quoted as saying.

It is unclear if they planned to target a specific event, but Boston hosts major 4 July festivities each year.