Rahami – identified in an Federal Bureau of Investigation bulletin just hours earlier as a man wanted over the bombings – pulled a gun, shot the officer and triggered the confrontation in the street that ended with Rahami wounded and in custody.
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Ahmad Khan Rahami, wanted in the bombings that rocked Chelsea and a New Jersey shore town was captured Monday after being wounded in a gun battle with police that erupted when he was discovered sleeping in a bar doorway, authorities said.
Police suspect Rahami was also behind a bomb that exploded in a New Jersey beach town on Saturday, as well as leaving the device found on the sidewalk after the NY blast. After cordoning off the area, a bomb squad used a robot to cut a wire to try to disable the device but inadvertently set off an explosion, he said.
Citing the FBI, New Jersey State Police said yesterday that the bombings in Chelsea and the New Jersey shore town Seaside Park were connected.
No one was injured in the blast – most likely because registration problems delayed the start of the race, so no one was near the garbage can when the explosion happened. “We need the facts to be able to piece all this together”.
“New Yorkers will not be intimidated”, he said at a press conference Saturday night.
Meanwhile, federal authorities were conducting a raid on a New Jersey apartment above a fried chicken restaurant.
What we know: A backpack containing up to five explosive devices was found in a wastebasket in Elizabeth, New Jersey, around 9.30 p.m. on Sunday. No one was injured in that blast.
Earlier Monday, New York police identified Rahami as a person of interest in connection with a blast that injured 29 people in Chelsea on Saturday night.
They believe the blast was an intentional act, but say there’s no evidence that links it to terrorism.
Linden mayor Derek Armstead said the break in the case came late on Monday morning, when a bar owner reported someone asleep in his doorway.
“It was a bombing”, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said. “My operating premise is anytime, anywhere, seven days a week you could have an incident like this”.
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.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said in television interviews that President Barack Obama, who is already in NY, was being briefed on the case.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Sunday a blast that injured 29 people in Manhattan was caused by some kind of bomb, but the attack didn’t appear to be linked to worldwide terrorism.
A law enforcement source told Fox News that a “number of individuals” who are possibly connected to the explosion were taken into custody and law enforcement officials told the Associated Press at least five men were being questioned. The agency said the stop was related to its investigation of the Chelsea explosion, although no one has been charged with a crime. He said the unexploded pressure cooker device appeared “similar in design” to the first bomb, but did not provide details.
New York City is increasing security as world leaders converge for the U.N. General Assembly by deploying an additional 1,000 police and National Guard troops in the wake of bombings in Manhattan and New Jersey.
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The FBI’s Newark office tweeted that its bomb technicians had responded to the scene, along with investigators from Union County and the State Police of New Jersey. In New Jersey that morning, a bomb exploded inside a trash can along the route of a race to benefit military veterans.
