Both said Monday that appears to be changing.
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NJ Transit services were suspended between Newark Liberty Airport and Elizabeth, and Amtrak trains to New Jersey were being held at New York Penn Station.
Rahami pulled a gun and shot the officer – who was wearing a bulletproof vest – in the torso, and more officers joined in a gun battle along the street and brought Rahami down, police Capt. James Sarnicki said.
Ahmad Rahami was taken into custody late Monday morning, after allegedly shooting and wounding at least one police officer in Linden.
An Elizabeth man sought in connection with the bombing of New York City’s Chelsea neighborhood over the weekend has been captured in Linden, according to multiple reports.
The string of attacks began on Saturday morning after a small pipe bomb exploded in the New Jersey town of Seaside Park, shortly before a charity run for USA marines and sailors. No one was injured in that blast.
Rahami, who was born on January 23, 1988, in Afghanistan, was arrested in connection with the bombings Saturday and Sunday in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood and Seaside Park, New Jersey. A follow-up search of the neighborhood by police revealed a similar, unexploded homemade bomb left on the street.
No one has been charged, and the investigation is continuing, Langmesser said.
Investigators suspect Mr. Rahami realized Sunday that the Federal Bureau of Investigation was closing in on him and tried to hide.
The family alleges in the suit that police and city officials selectively discriminated their restaurant, forcing them to close early. The agency said the stop was related to its investigation of the Chelsea explosion. When a robot was sent to probe the package, one of the bombs inside detonated, officials said.
The New York Times profile also indicates that Rahami had a passion for fast cars, specifically Honda cars; he liked to, “soup ’em up and race ’em”, according to one neighbor who frequented the First American Fried Chicken restaurant on Elmore Avenue. At the same time, five people who were pulled over in a vehicle Sunday night were being questioned by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, officials said. Officials said the other injuries were minor, described as scrapes and bruises. Another official said Rahami traveled overseas a good bit, also visiting countries not in the Middle East.
NY mayor Bill de Blasio told CNN’s New Day that Rahami, a New Jersey resident of Afghan descent, is a naturalized US citizen.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said as investigators gathered information they learned there were “certain commonalities among the bombs”, leading authorities to believe “that there was a common group behind the bombs”.
Around the time Rahami was taken into custody, President Barack Obama was in NY on a previously scheduled visit for a meeting of the U.N. General Assembly.
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said Sunday that people will see “a very substantial NYPD presence this week – bigger than ever”. He was shot and killed by an off-duty police officer.
Investigators said they found similarities between this device and the bomb that exploded in New York’s Chelsea neighborhood Saturday evening, but have not linked the two events at this time.
Mr. Obama said he has been closely monitoring the situation from NY, where he’s attending the United Nations meetings. They are trying to hurt innocent people.
“The more we learn with each passing hour is it looks more like terrorism”, de Blasio said in an interview on NY1 News.
“We all have a role to play as citizens to make sure we don’t succumb to that fear”.
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Carol E. Lee and Kate King contributed to this article. A photo caption in an earlier version of this story online erroneously referred to it as “American Fried Chicken”.
