The man – identified as 28-year-old Ahmad Khan Rahami – was wanted by police in connection with four bomb incidents in NY and New Jersey over the weekend.
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Police have arrested an Afghanistan-born American suspected of detonating a bomb in the heart of New York City and planting other devices.
While authorities said initially there did not appear to be a connection between the explosions and worldwide terrorism, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday he “wouldn’t be surprised if we found a foreign connection to the act”.
Derek Armstead – mayor of Linden, New Jersey, where the suspect was captured – said the owner of a bar found him sleeping in his hallway on Monday morning.
The FBI wanted poster, issued hours before the arrest, warned that Rahami “should be considered armed and unsafe”. “We need the facts to be able to piece all this together”. Here’s what we know so far. “Things are moving very quickly”.
The armed agents, including some from the ATF and Federal Bureau of Investigation, swarmed “First American Fried Chicken” on Elmora Avenue just before 6 a.m. No one was injured.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said: “There are certain commonalities on the way the bombs are constructed” in reference to those found in New Jersey and those in New York City. Investigators searched the building on Monday, Bollwage said. “Just assume there could be a terrorist attack anytime, anywhere”, Cuomo said.
While the motive of the attacks is still unknown, Mayor Bill de Blasio said, “We have every reason to believe this was an act of terror” during a news conference Monday afternoon. “My operating premise is anytime, anywhere, seven days a week you could have an incident like this”.
His last known address was in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Spokesman Josh Earnest said Obama will comment publicly later Monday.
Sources told the publication that on Saturday-when a bomb detonated in Chelsea, Manhattan, injured 29 people-well-dressed thieves happened on a suitcase around the corner, on West 27th Street.
No one has been charged with any crime, and the investigation is continuing, Langmesser said. The device was described as a pressure cooker with a cellphone and wires attached to it, law enforcement sources said.
As many as five potential explosive devices tumbled out of the backpack when it was emptied, Bollwage said.
The shootout came after a weekend of fear and dread in NY and New Jersey.
The pipe bomb that exploded in Seaside Park was placed along the route of a 5K Marine Corps charity run. The race was canceled and no one was injured.
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Terror attacks are increasingly global, but NY is a target and authorities and locals should always be in a state of readiness, Cuomo told reporters Monday at Penn Station, where he met with first responders.
