Elizabeth is about 16 miles southwest of New York City, and is closer to the location of the Chelsea bombing than Seaside Park, New Jersey, where another explosive was found over the weekend.
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The New York police said on Monday they are looking for 28-year-old Afghan national Ahmad Khan Rahami for the Chelsea bombing. Bollwage said Rahami and two officers were wounded.
There’s also no indication that the latest incident in Elizabeth is connected to the blasts in NY and New Jersey over the weekend.
“Mr Rahami is now under arrest”.
“We do not yet know if this was a lone wolf, or if it was something involving additional individuals”, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said Monday morning.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo says investigators have no reason to believe that there are further threats, but the public should “be on constant guard”. The AP says five people were in the auto. A similar, unexploded device was also found close to where the Chelsea explosion occurred later the same night.
A pipe bomb found inside a backpack exploded early this morning as a police robot examined it near a New Jersey transit station. No one was injured but the race was canceled.
Meanwhile, federal authorities were conducting a raid on a New Jersey apartment above a fried chicken restaurant.
CBS News correspondent Jeff Pegues reports that investigators believe Rahami may be part of a terror cell and consider him extremely risky. The discovery of Tannerite may be important as authorities probe whether the two New York City devices and the pipe bomb at the Jersey shore are connected.
Five devices were found hidden inside a backpack, the office of Elizabeth Mayor Chris Bollwage confirmed – one of which exploded when a robot attempted to disarm it.
No injuries were reported in the blast, and there was no damage to surrounding buildings.
The official added that the apparent low level of planning had some investigators concerned the blasts were just a test of New York’s security.
NJ Transit services were suspended between Newark Liberty Airport and Elizabeth, and Amtrak trains to New Jersey were being held at New York Penn Station.
Amtrak said 2,400 passengers were affected, but that schedules returned to normal Monday morning.
Rahami is seen in this image released by the New Jersey State Police.
The FBI said Rahami is wanted for questioning in the Chelsea explosion, which happened around 8:30 p.m. Saturday, as well as in another bombing hours earlier in Seaside Park, New Jersey, about 135 kilometers south of New York City.
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The New York region and the nation remained on high alert, particularly with the start of the UN General Assembly on Manhattan’s East Side on Tuesday.
