Investigators scrambled Sunday to find out who planted a bomb that rocked Chelsea, scouring shrapnel, forensic traces and surveillance video.
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An Indian immigrant businessman has been describing the moment he found the NY and New Jersey bombings suspect napping in front of his bar.
The suspected NY bomber also traveled to Pakistan for a shorter period in 2011, the Times reported.
He was captured four hours later in Linden, NJ., about 20 miles from New York City.
“I want to take this opportunity to reassure the people in this city, in this region and Americans across our country that our counterterrorism and law enforcement professionals at every level – federal state and local – are working together around the clock to prevent attacks and to keep us safe”, he said. He was apprehended following a police-involved shooting that injured two Linden police officers and Rahami. Another police officer was grazed by a bullet.
Watch the AP video interviews with neighbors of the suspected NY bomber, below.
U.S. authorities said the motive of the attacks was unclear, but officials quickly identified them as terror-related.
FBI agents walk around the roof outside an apartment during an investigation at a building Monday, Sept. 19, 2016, in Elizabeth, N.J. Separate footage broadcast by CBS purported to show Rahami dragging a large bag down a street in the district.
POLICE on Monday arrested an Afghanistan-born American who they suspect of detonating a bomb in the heart of New York City and planting other devices, capturing the 28-year-old in a dramatic gun battle that wounded him and two officers.
Investigators suspect that Rahami built 10 bombs, only two of which exploded – the one in Chelsea and the pipe bomb in the New Jersey town of Seaside Park. His head was moving and his eyes were open whilst he was taken to an ambulance in Linden, New Jersey.
Federal charges in the bombings have yet to be filed. Messages left with phone numbers listed for family members weren’t returned.
It wasn’t clear when Rahami would get an attorney.
The bombing spread fear across the NY area and revived anxiety about homegrown terrorism nationwide.
Rahami wasn’t on any terror or no-fly watch lists, though he had been interviewed for immigration purposes traveling between the USA and Afghanistan, one of the law enforcement officials said.
His family runs First American Fried Chicken in Elizabeth, Mayor Chris Bollwage said.
The lawsuit was terminated in 2012 because one of Rahami’s brothers had pleaded guilty to blocking police from enforcing closing hours at the restaurant.
A childhood friend, Flee Jones, said Rahami had become more religious after returning from a trip to Afghanistan several years ago. “He’s always in there.he’s a very friendly guy, That is what is so scary”. “That’s what’s so scary”. Bomb disposal experts found five improvised explosive devices, one of which went off as they trying to defuse it.
The blast reported in Chelsea on Saturday night injured at least 29 people. An unexploded pressure-cooker bomb was found blocks away.
Rahami had not previously been identified as unsafe but his family was known to police as a result of late-night noise and crowd complaints at a family halal chicken restaurant in Elizabeth.
Investigators are still gathering evidence and have not publicly tied Rahami to those devices, though Sweeney noted they aren’t “ruling anything out”.
Officials did not offer any information on the possible motives of Ahmad Khan Rahami, but they said they were not looking for other suspects.
President Barack Obama said there was now no known connection between the Minnesota attack and the bombings in NY and New Jersey.
However, there are contradictory accounts of how Rahami came to the attention of law enforcement. “My understanding is she accused him of domestic violence”, King said, but that when questioned by authorities, “the sister recanted”. He also faces a weapons charge, according to court papers.
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Obama made a brief statement to the press on Monday night from a hotel in NY where he is attending the 71st session of the UN General Assembly, EFE news reported.
