Late Sunday night, five explosive devices were discovered in a trash can at an Elizabeth train station. “It’s not in a highly congested area”, Bollwage told CNN. They quickly reported the find to police, said Elizabeth Mayor Christian Bollwage. No cell phones or electronic timing devices were found on the devices, the mayor said.
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A suspect, Ahmad Khan Rahami, 28, of Elizabeth, N.J., was taken into custody Monday in Linden, N.J., after being shot three times in a shootout with police, according to a federal law enforcement official. Evidence has “directly linked” Rahami to the improvised explosive devices in NY and Seaside Park in New Jersey, he said. One of the devices exploded early on Monday morning while a police bomb-disposal robot was attempting to disarm it.
“I think this is something that maybe will. happen more and more all over the country”, Republican nominee Donald Trump said in an interview with Fox News on Monday.
New Jersey Transit service trains resumed service on the Northeast Corridor and North Jersey Coast Line at 5:30 a.m. Monday, but they faced residual delays because service was suspended after the devices were found.
Investigators believe more people were involved in the NY and New Jersey bombing plots, two USA officials told Reuters.
On Saturday night, a shrapnel-packed pressure-cooker bomb similar to those used in the Boston Marathon attack exploded in New York’s Chelsea section, wounding 29 people, none seriously. By Sunday, 26 of the injured who had been admitted to hospitals had been released. Sweeney and other officials said that the investigation into potential links to ISIS or other terror groups was still ongoing. Federal prosecutors said they were still weighing charges over the bombings.
The blast occurred on the same day an explosion went off near a Marine Corps charity run in New Jersey and a man stabbed nine people at a Minnesota mall.
Pearson reported from NY. New Jersey State Police say that information comes from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. “We’re not taking any options off the table”.
The Latest on explosive devices being found in two states (all times local): 12:50 p.m. Relatives of a man in custody after explosives were found in NY and New Jersey filed a federal lawsuit in 2011, claiming they and their family business were targeted because they are Muslims.
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.
Some four blocks away, an unexploded pressure cooker was reportedly found with a cellphone and wires attached. Rahmani was caught on surveillance video near the site of the explosion in Manhattan on Saturday and has also been linked to the bombing in Seaside Park. Officials said it didn’t appear that those two incidents were connected, though they weren’t ruling anything out.
Mayor Bill de Blasio urged residents to be vigilant and said “a very substantial” police presence would accompany the United Nations meeting.
The attacks came as world leaders prepared to gather at the United Nations in NY for the annual General Assembly this week, just days after the 15th anniversary of the September 11 attacks.
“You should know you will see a very substantial NYPD presence this week – bigger than ever”, de Blasio said.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo added that 1,000 additional New York State Police officers and National Guard troops will be deployed to patrol bus terminals, airports and subway stations.
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The increased policing, Cuomo said, is “just to err on the side of caution”.
