BOSTON (AP) -- Federal officials are denying that a suspect is in custody in the Boston Marathon bombings.

A law enforcement official briefed on the investigation told The Associated Press on Wednesday a suspect was in custody.

But the FBI and the U.S. attorney's office in Boston dispute that.

The official who spoke to The Associated Press did so on condition of anonymity and stood by the information even after it was disputed.

The official was not authorized to divulge details of the investigation. The official had said the suspect was expected in federal court in Boston.

The official spoke shortly after several media outlets reported that a suspect had been identified from surveillance video taken at a Lord & Taylor store between the sites of the two bomb blasts, which killed three people and wounded more than 170.

Reporters and police have converged at the courthouse.