New York bomb suspect Ahmad Khan Rahami in custody
BREAKING: The man wanted in connection with the New York bombing is now in custody after a shootout with police, sources said.
UPDATE:
THE man suspected in the weekend bombings in New York and New Jersey is in custody after a dramatic shootout with police.
Ahmad Khan Rahami was apprehended in Linden, New Jersey, after firing at police officers, according to multiple US media sources.
He is alive but injured, and two officers were injured in the gunfire, Christian Bollwage, Mayor of Elizabeth, New Jersey said. TV footage showed Rahami on a stretcher being loaded into an ambulance. He appeared to have an injury on his right shoulder.
The mayor confirmed one officer’s vest was struck, and the other was shot in the hand.
The 28-year-old Afghan-born American is wanted in connection with twin bomb attacks in New York and New Jersey over the weekend.
Rahami, a naturalised United States citizen of Afghan birth, was identified with the help of a mobile phone left behind with an unexploded pressure cooker found near to the New York bomb blast, according to officials.
Ahmad Khan Rahami alive but injured, loaded into ambulance in Linden https://t.co/aMCNYxwFnH pic.twitter.com/JJlFhPLYSu
— Eyewitness News (@ABC7NY) September 19, 2016
He is believed to be the same man seen in black and white surveillance video taken at the site of Saturday night’s bombing in the Chelsea neighbourhood of Manhattan which injured 29 people.
Police also believe Rahami was behind a pipe bomb that exploded in a trash can on the route of a Marine Corps run in New Jersey.
Authorities released a photo of Rahami on Monday. His name was added to key terror watch lists to prevent him from trying to leave the country, CNN reports.
An emergency alert was sent to all New York smartphones on Monday morning, notifying users of the manhunt for Rahami.
It is not known if he acted alone.
***WANTED FOR QUESTIONING**** RETWEET! https://t.co/B3IgarqY2D pic.twitter.com/QUjCFdtVc2
— NJSP - State Police (@NJSP) September 19, 2016
WANTED: Ahmad Khan Rahami, 28, in connection to the Chelsea explosion. Call #800577TIPS with any information. pic.twitter.com/rBDQGfXwbh
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) September 19, 2016
Earlier Monday, FBI raided an apartment above a fried chicken restaurant in Elizabeth, New Jersey, believed to be Rahami’s last known address.
The suspect was deemed armed and dangerous, Mayor Bill de Blasio said.
“We need to get this guy in right away,” de Blasio said on CNN. “My experience is once the FBI zeroes in on someone, they will get them.”
Rahami was reportedly sleeping in the doorway of a local bar when he was spotted by police, according to CNN.
The raid began after a nearby Elizabeth train station — a town adjacent to Newark International Airport — was rocked by an explosion on Monday morning after a robot accidentally set off a pipe bomb while trying to disarm the device left in a rubbish bin. No one was injured.
Up to five devices were found in one backpack, which was discovered in a garbage can by two men around 8.30pm Sunday near the train station.
The series of attacks come as New York hosts world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly this week.
Earlier:
NEW JERSEY EXPLOSION
Elizabeth Mayor Christian Bollwage said the FBI was working to disarm one of the devices when the explosion happened.
The robot was reportedly “cutting into the device when it exploded”.
The two men who found the package reported seeing wires and a pipe coming out of the package. It’s believed the devices are pipe bombs.
The discovery of the suspicious package comes a day after an explosion in Manhattan injured 29 people, and an unexploded pressure-cooker device was found four blocks away.
#BREAKING video shows moment bomb robot accidentally detonated device found @ Elizabeth NJ train station. @PIX11News pic.twitter.com/xfO97F2ebm
— Anthony DiLorenzo (@ADiLorenzoTV) September 19, 2016
Also Saturday, a pipe bomb exploded about an hour from the Elizabeth train station in Seaside Park, New Jersey, forcing the cancellation of a military charity 5K run.
Officials said it didn’t appear that those two incidents were connected, though they weren’t ruling anything out. Investigators didn’t immediately comment on whether they thought the Elizabeth incident was connected to either of the two blasts.
Governor Andrew Cuomo, touring the site of Saturday’s blast that injured 29 in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighbourhood, said there didn’t appear to be any link to international terrorism.
He said the second device appeared “similar in design” to the first, but did not provide details.
On Sunday, a federal law enforcement official said the Chelsea bomb contained a residue of Tannerite, an explosive often used for target practice that can be picked up in many sporting goods stores. The discovery of Tannerite may be important as authorities probe whether the three incidents are connected.
Cell phones were discovered at the site of both bombings, but no Tannerite residue was identified in the New Jersey bomb remnants, in which a black powder was detected, said the official, who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorised to comment on an ongoing investigation.
Authorities said the Manhattan bombing and New Jersey pipe bomb didn’t appear to be connected, though they weren’t ruling anything out.
Meanwhile, Elizabeth Mayor Christian Bollwage warned other explosions were expected in Elizabeth. He said that if the bomb had gone off “it would have certainly killed or injured many.”
The blast came just before 1am Monday morning local time, leaving an odour of gunpowder in the air, after trains through the station in Elizabeth were suspended and homes and businesses evacuated.
A hazmat team was called to the station overnight and Union County Bomb Squad brought in a robot as trains on the Northeast Corridor between Newark Airport and Penn Station were cancelled.
Police had been warned by an anonymous 911 caller that more explosions would follow Saturday’s dumpster bombing in New York, which left 29 people injured.
A second device, described as a pressure cooker with wires and a mobile phone attached, was found a few blocks from the Manhattan explosion.
The blast in Elizabeth, NJ, wraps up a weekend of terror in the US, in which a pipe bomb exploded in a New Jersey coastal town ahead of a charity race on Saturday morning and a mass stabbing at a Minnesota shopping centre was claimed by Islamic State.
Thunderous explosion that seemed to startle many police + sent others running heard in Elizabeth, NJ train station pic.twitter.com/o0ilhsY7BW
— Miguel Almaguer (@Miguelnbc) September 19, 2016
BREAKING PHOTO: blast near Elizabeth NJ train station as bomb techs try to disarm device. Video soon. @PIX11News pic.twitter.com/doX6PgktXw
— Anthony DiLorenzo (@ADiLorenzoTV) September 19, 2016
FIVE ARRESTED IN BROOKLYN
Five people were arrested in Brooklyn on Sunday evening following Saturday night’s bombing in Manhattan’s fashionable Chelsea district.
The suspects were in a “vehicle of interest” heading east at around 8.45pm Sunday night Eastern Time on the Belt Parkway from the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, the FBI confirmed. A weapons stash was found inside the SUV, the New York Daily News reported.
A government official and a law enforcement official who were briefed on the investigation said five people were being questioned at an FBI building in lower Manhattan.
New York State Senator Marty Golden posted on Instagram that the arrests had “a possible connection to the bombing” in Chelsea.
No one has been charged and the investigation is ongoing, the FBI said.
Investigators identified a person of interest in the bombing through surveillance footage, but it is unclear if he was among the five arrested.
Two senior law enforcement officials told NBC New York the footage showed a man pulling a suitcase that appeared to contain the second explosive device, which he took out and left behind as he walked away.
The officials said two men later approached the abandoned suitcase, removed a white bag containing the device and took the luggage but said there was no indication the pair knew what they were removing.
DIRE WARNING
It remains unclear if the bombs in New York and New Jersey are linked, despite a mysterious call from an unidentified 911 caller who said he was near the scene of the Chelsea blast and warned of “more to come.”
The bomb that scattered shrapnel across Manhattan street contained residue of Tannerite, an explosive used for target practice that can be found in sports stores, a federal law enforcement official said on Sunday.
It could be vital in finding out if the Chelsea bomb was linked to the pressure cooker device found a few blocks away and removed on Sunday morning. The NYPD tweeted that it had been safely removed to a bomb squad facility in the Bronx just before 2.30am Sunday, where it was “rendered safe” before being sent to the FBI Laboratory in Quantico, Virginia for a forensic examination.
Old-fashioned flip phones were found on both devices as well as the pipe bombs placed in a bin on the route of the race for Marines in Seaside Park, New Jersey, law enforcement officials said.
Authorities said they believed the device had been timed to explode as runners went past.
But no Tannerite is thought to have been found at the site of the charity race.
Homemade pressure cooker bombs were used in the Boston Marathon attacks in 2013 that killed three people and injured more than 260.
News Alert: Law enforcement source says NY and NJ explosive devices from "same person." pic.twitter.com/avIPnRVDxY
— Fox News (@FoxNews) September 18, 2016
#NEC rail service is temporarily suspended between Newark Airport and Elizabeth stations due to police activity near Elizabeth.
— NJ TRANSIT (@NJTRANSIT) September 19, 2016
‘ACT OF TERRORISM’
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo called the Chelsea explosion “an act of terrorism”, but said there was “no evidence” of ties to an international group. He said the device appeared “similar in design” to the one found nearby.
Mayor Bill de Blasio said there was “more work to do” before authorities could say what the motivation was for the attack on the area known for its vibrant arts scene and large gay community.
In a bizarre twist, a blog emerged after the attack claiming credit for the bombing and saying it was a call for gay rights. The Tumblr account was taken down early Sunday afternoon and investigators said they did not believe it was relevant to the case.
The latest New Jersey bomb discovery marks the fourth attempted “terror attack” on US soil this weekend, after
An additional 1000 state troopers and members of the National Guard were placed at transit hubs and other points throughout New York City and extra police officials were patrolling Manhattan, officials said.
‘MY WHOLE BUILDING SHOOK’
Americans took to social media in droves to share their fears over the series of bombs, which came just days after the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
One Twitter user said their entire “whole high-rise building shook” and people seven blocks away reported hearing and feeling the explosion.
“People didn’t know what was going on, and that’s what was scary,” said Anthony Zayas, an actor who was in Chelsea night when the bomb went off. “You didn’t know if was coming from the subway beneath you, you didn’t know if there were other bombs, you didn’t know where to go.”
Earlier on Sunday, five FBI agents searched an Uber driver’s vehicle that had been damaged in the Manhattan blast, ripping off the door panels inside as they examined it for evidence.
Driver MD Alam, from Brooklyn, had just picked up three passengers and was driving along 23rd Street when the explosion shattered the car’s windows and left gaping holes in the rear passenger-side door.
“It was so loud,” the 32-year-old Alam said. “I was so scared. There was a loud boom and then smoke and I just drove away.”
Natalie, an 11-year-old out walking her dog, told the New York Times that people born in the past 15 years are primed for an attack at any moment. “Since we weren’t alive for 9/11, we’ve never been alive in a time when we aren’t scared,” she said.
“I’ve learned to accept that this stuff is going to happen.”
— With wires
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