Ahmad Khan Rahami, the 28-year-old suspect “directly linked” by police to NY and New Jersey bomb plots and now charged with five counts of attempted murder of a law enforcement officer, appeared to spend his days rather innocuously. The neighbor called police, and police told counter-terrorism officials, who questioned the father and relatives.
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But Mr Bains deflected credit from USA media that he is a “hero”, saying it was law enforcement that deserved praise.
Following Rahami’s arrest, officials said they had no indication there were more bombs or suspects to find, though they are still investigating.
In addition to the five charges of attempted murder of a law enforcement officer, Rahami was also charged with second-degree unlawful possession of a weapon and second-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful goal, Park said.
The Afghan Taliban denies any involvement in the bombings and any ties with Rahami, said the group’s spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid.
The chase ended when Rahami was shot multiple times.
Sweeney said five suspects taken into custody late on Sunday in Brooklyn after they had been observed in a vehicle at a location associated with Rahami had been released without charge. The law enforcement officials said at least one of Rahami’s relatives was in the auto, which appeared headed toward Kennedy Airport in NY after coming from New Jersey. Justice Department guidelines restrict the types of actions agents may take; they can not, for instance, record phone calls without obtaining a higher level of approval or developing more grounds for suspicion.
Those and other clues spurred officials to publicize his name and photo Monday morning, asking for help finding Rahami, 28, a US citizen born in Afghanistan, who lives with his Muslim family in Elizabeth, New Jersey.
Rahami’s childhood sweetheart, who has a child by him, spoke to Fox News after the arrest.
Rahami’s family lives above First American Fried Chicken in Elizabeth, the city’s mayor says.
Who is the suspect, and what did his wife know?
Federal investigators interviewed Mohammad Rahami in 2014 after a neighbor heard the father scream, “You are a terrorist!” at his son, who had just allegedly punched his sister and stabbed his brother in the leg during a fight, senior law enforcement officials tell NBC News.
He was allowed to walk free despite the arresting officer warning that he was likely a “danger to himself and others”.
During a press conference, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said authorities have “every reason to believe that this was an act of terror”. “Fearless and courageous act!” said the National Sikh Campaign.
The probe started when a pipe bomb blew up Saturday morning in Seaside Park, New Jersey, before a charity race to benefit Marines.
No one was injured in the other blasts.
An unexploded pressure-cooker bomb was found blocks away from the New York City blast. Shortly thereafter, an unexploded pressure-cooker device was also found sitting on a sidewalk four blocks away and was being analyzed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Rahami, who lived with his family above the First American Fried Chicken restaurant in Elizabeth, New Jersey, is also suspected of planting a bomb that exploded on the New Jersey shore on Saturday, a device found near the NY blast, and up to six more devices found near the Elizabeth train station on Sunday night.
Another pressure cooker device was found and defused close to the scene of the Manhattan blast, and five pipe bombs were discovered late Sunday in a trash can in Elizabeth.
Those and other clues prompted officials to release his name and photo on Monday morning.
“A lot of technology involved in this, but a lot of good, old-fashioned police work, too”, said New York Police Commissioner James O’Neill.
“He didn’t want to follow the rules”, said Perrotti, the salon owner.
Rahami wasn’t on any terror or no-fly watch lists, though he had been interviewed for immigration purposes traveling between the US and Afghanistan, one of the law enforcement officials said. He often disappeared to Afghanistan and Pakistan, she said, once for a year between 2013 and 2014.
– Clinton, Trump at loggerheads -Rahami was apparently seen in surveillance footage taken in Chelsea before the bomb went off.
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Tucker reported from Washington.
