President Obama on Monday observed a moment of silence for the victims of the Boston marathon exactly a week after the deadly attacks that left three dead and more than 180 injured.
Standing in the Oval Office, the president paused, with his head bowed and his hands folded in front of him to honor those lost.
In Boston, thousands of people gathered around Boylston Street blocks away from the explosion sites, bringing with them mementos to lay at memorials and crying at 2:50pm, the exact time when the first bomb went off.
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Observing: President Obama observed a moment of silence at 2:50pm Monday in the Oval Office in honor of Boston Marathon victims
Memorial: Hundreds of people pack the intersection of Boylston Street and Berkeley Street in Boston to observe a moment of silence exactly one week after twin bombings killed three people and injured over 180 others
Hand over heart: Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis, left, Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, seated, U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz, second from right, and Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Boston Field Office Richard DesLauriers, right, salute the American flag
Walk the line: Jack Fleming, of the Boston Athletic Association, which runs the Boston Marathon, pauses at the finish line Monday
The three-block area was also handed back over to the city of Boston from the FBI following a simple transition ceremony.
According to the Boston Globe, the scheduled moment of silence, meant to last a minute, turned into 20 minutes. People around the city stopped where they were and took a moment to reflect.
Monday also marked the day the first of three victims, Krystal Campbell, 29, was laid to rest. The other two victims, eight-year-old Martin Richard, and Boston University student Lingzi Lu, were also killed in the blasts.
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The president had traveled to the New England city on Thursday to attend and speak at an interfaith ceremony, where he spoke briefly on the victims and the scope of the tragedy.
On Monday, survivors, residents and state officials were among the thousands gathered in silence across the Boston area.
Bridget Horne, 28, who finished the marathon minutes before the explosions, spent the moment of silence locked in a group hug with other survivors in Back Bay, the neighborhood where the Boston Marathon finish line was.
Silence then applause: Boston remembers bombing victims
Star-spangled: A man wraps himself in an American flag at the somber ceremony
Paying tribute: Officers march into position near the blast site; federal investigators formally released the finish line bombing crime scene to the city in a brief ceremony at 5 p.m.
Horne, clad in her bright-blue marathon jacket, had run to Boylston Street from her South Boston office with several colleagues to mark the moment. It was her first time returning to the scene since the day of the attack.
'I just need to be with people who were there,' she told the Associated Press.
A little more than a mile away, hundreds of state employees gathered outside the Massachusetts Statehouse to observe the moment of silence.
Crime scene: Cleaning material are sprayed on the outlined blast seat on the sidewalk of Boylston Street after the Boston Marathon
Forever changed: A view of Boylston Street and the sites of the bombings at the finish line
Gov. Deval Patrick bowed his head, standing with Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray, Attorney General Martha Coakley, Secretary of State William Galvin and House Speaker Robert DeLeo on a landing on the great front steps of the capitol.
'God bless the people of Massachusetts. Boston Strong,' Patrick said when the moment had ended.
The officials departed without any further words as church bells echoed across the city.
The silence was broken on Boylston Street when a Boston police officer pumped his fists in the air and the crowd erupted in applause.They quietly sung `God Bless America' before starting to leave the area.