Was he working alone?
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A man in this weekend’s bombings in New York City and New Jersey has been taken into custody.
– Rahami has been “directly linked” to devices in NY and New Jersey, Sweeney said.
The gun battle began on Monday after a police officer responding to a call about a hooded vagrant asleep in a bar doorway roused him – and quickly recognised the bearded face of perhaps the most wanted man in America.
10 CNN said Rahami was implicated in a domestic incident years ago – allegedly threatening his sister with a knife – but the claim was recanted.
During the shootout, officers returned fire and struck the suspect at least once, allowing officers to subdue him and take him into custody.
Police commissioner James O’Neill praised the officers who identified, traced and caught Rahami, saying: “Today our efforts were successful”. Rahami was taken to the hospital where we are told he underwent surgery.
President Obama on Monday praised the work of law enforcement officials who arrested the man believed to be responsible for bombings in NY and New Jersey. Bail was set at $5.2 million.
Juliette Kayyem, a counterterrorism expert and former Homeland Security official, says it’s too soon to know if the incidents are connected to worldwide terror.
William Sweeney Jr., the FBI’s assistant director in NY, said there were no indications Rahami was on law enforcement’s radar at the time of the bombings.
One pipe bomb exploded and two more were recovered along the route of a 5K charity race at Seaside Park in aid of Marines on Saturday morning. He is reportedly alive but wounded, and two police officers were also hurt.
One of five devices left inside a bag discovered in a trashcan at the local train station blew up Sunday evening as a bomb squad tried to disarm it.
The discovery of the suspicious package came a day after the explosion in Manhattan and an unexploded pressure-cooker device was found four blocks away in New York City.
Dark-colored wiring was connected to the pressure cooker by silver duct tape to what appeared to be a cell phone.
The development came as investigators scrambled to find out who planted the bomb that exploded on September 17.
After bombings in NY and New Jersey, investigators say they want to talk with one man: Ahmad Khan Rahami.
Federal investigators said tests revealed that the bomb contained residue of Tannerite, an explosive often used for target practice that can be obtain from sporting goods stores.
The post NY bombing suspect, Ahmad Rahami, held appeared first on Punch Newspapers.
Five people were pulled over on Sunday night travelling in a vehicle associated with Rahami, but were questioned and released. Rahami’s last known address was in Elizabeth, and an explosives-laden backpack was found there Sunday night.
The decision to issue the unusual alert was made early Monday morning by officials from the New York Police Department, FBI and the Office of Emergency Management, according to J. Peter Donald, a spokesperson for the NYPD.
But a police spokesman told AFP they did not disarm the device, which was later safely defused by law enforcement and sent to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for analysis. Elizabeth Mayor Chris Bollwage tells CNN it is “definitely related to the Chelsea incident”.
The arrest came just hours after police issued a bulletin and photo of Rahami, a naturalized US citizen from Afghanistan with an address in Elizabeth, New Jersey. While there in July 2011, Rahami married a Pakistani woman. Officials said the device had been packed with BBs and ball bearings.
“He loved his Civics, he loved going fast”, said Ryan McCann, a frequent customer at First American Fried Chicken, the restaurant that Rahami’s father, Mohammed Rahami, has run since 2002.
No one has been charged, and the investigation is continuing, Langmesser said.
There was no immediate word on whether the devices were similar to those in nearby Seaside Park or New York City.
GWEN IFILL: President Obama weighed in from NY, where he’s attending the United Nations General Assembly.
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People in the region are tough and resilient, President Barack Obama said on Monday.
