Osama Bin Laden Killed, President Obama Announces

President Barack Obama late Sunday announced that Osama bin Laden was killed by American forces in a "targeted attack" in Pakistan.

"Tonight, I can report to the American people and to the world that the United States has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of al Qaeda, and a terrorist who’s responsible for the murder of thousands of innocent men, women and children," Obama said. 

Speaking from the East Room of the White House, Obama offered these details of the operation:

"Last August, after years of painstaking work by our intelligence community, I was briefed on a possible lead to bin Laden. It was far from certain, and it took many months to run this thread to ground. I met repeatedly with my national security team as we developed more information about the possibility that we had located bin Laden hiding within a compound deep inside of Pakistan. And finally, last week, I determined that we had enough intelligence to take action, and authorized an operation to get Osama bin Laden and bring him to justice.

"Today, at my direction, the United States launched a targeted operation against that compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. A small team of Americans carried out the operation with extraordinary courage and capability. No Americans were harmed. They took care to avoid civilian casualties. After a firefight, they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body."

Alice Hoagland, mother of Mark Bingham, who went to UC Berkeley and was one of the people who fought back against the hijackers on flight 93, told Patch: "We are taking in the news, and we are relieved that the terrorist who masterminded 9/11 has finally been brought to justice and brought to justice by the hands of the United States."

"My heart goes out to the families of the other victims of 9/11," said Hoagland, who lives in the Santa Cruz mountains.

"I’ve missed my son every day," she said, "... and it feels that this is a little bit of closure for a terrible tragedy like 9/11."

She said her phone has been busy with neighbors, friends and families of other victims calling her about the news.

She said she's trying to temper her relief over the report with the sobering thought that there might be some kind of ugly backlash to bin Laden's death.

A video of President Obama's announcement is attached to this article. The video and transcript can be found also on the White House website.

The news comes nearly 10 years after the devastating attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Everybody makes mistakes ... ! If there's something in this article you think should be corrected, or if something else is amiss, call editor Emilie Raguso at 510-459-8325 or email her at emilier@patch.com.