Law enforcement agencies have apprehended New Jersey resident Ahmad Khan Rahami, after a brief but intense manhunt by agencies seeking to question him about multiple bombs in NY and New Jersey since Saturday.
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Ahmad Khan Rahami of Elizabeth, New Jersey, was captured after firing at police officers in Linden, New Jersey, about 20 miles (32 km) outside New York, Elizabeth Mayor Chris Bollwage said. Two officers were shot, one in the hand and the other in a bullet-proof vest, he said.
NY police announced earlier they are looking for Rahami for questioning in connection with the Saturday bombing in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood, which injured 29 people. The next day another undetonated explosive device built inside a pressure cooker was found four blocks away.
President Barack Obama says investigators are focusing on a “person of interest” in the NY and New Jersey bombings, but see no connection to the stabbings in Minnesota. Officials say the device used was a pressure cooker bomb also set off by a cellphone trigger. “And there’s no better example of that than the people of NY and New Jersey”, the president said. The New York Police Department said it is looking for Rahami for questioning in the New York City explosion that happened Saturday, Sept. 17, 2016. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the bombs had some similarities but provided no other details.
The apartment search began after one of five devices found at the nearby Elizabeth train station exploded while a bomb squad robot attempted to disarm it.
Ahmad Khan Rahami, 28, was shown stretchered into an ambulance, sporting a bloodied bandage on his right arm and moving his head from side to side with his eyes open in Linden, New Jersey, according to ABC footage. No one was injured.
Until his capture, Rahami was the focus of investigators who were questioning relatives Monday and had been searching for a 2003 blue Honda Civic believed to be linked to the suspect. He was shot in the leg before he was taken into custody.
Hours before the Chelsea blast, a pipe bomb exploded in a Seaside Park, N.J., trash can before a 5k charity run that was to benefit Marines and sailors.
Federal Bureau of Investigation agents stopped “a vehicle of interest” in Brooklyn in connection to the Manhattan explosion, the AP reports, citing Federal Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman Kelly Langmesser.
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Law enforcement officials have said that a tip from the public lead to locating Mr. Rahami eventually leading to his arrest. The race was canceled. No one was hurt.
