“A call was made, one of our police officers went to investigate, and our police officer noticed nearly immediately that this was the suspect that was wanted for the bombings”, Armstead told Smith.
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Two officers were believed to be hurt in the shootout with Rahami, who suffered a gunshot to the leg.
An unexploded pressure cooker was found four blocks from the site of NY bombing in Chelsea.
Ahmad Khan Rahami is accused of attempted murder of a law enforcement officer, unlawful possession of a weapon and possession of a weapon for an unlawful goal, prosecutors said.
Hours after the Elizabeth blast, Linden police responded to reports of a man sleeping in front of Merdie’s Tavern, according to the town’s mayor, Derek Armstead. When cops asked him to show his hands, Rahami pulled out a handgun and shot the officer, Captain Sarnicki said.
The suspect failed on multiple levels here – he was caught on surveillance video planting the bombs, the second bomb didn’t detonate, and the cellphone taped to the bomb provided clues to authorities that helped identify him.
Mr Sweeney said five suspects taken into custody late on Sunday (local time) in Brooklyn after they had been observed in a auto at a location associated with Rahami had been released without charge.
A man in this weekend’s bombings in New York City and New Jersey has been taken into custody.
Later that night, in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, another bomb went off, injuring 29 people. No one was injured there.
President Barack Obama, speaking in NY, said officials did not believe there was a connection between events in NY and New Jersey and the stabbing attack in Minnesota, also on Saturday, in which nine people were injured. The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility. Authorities were trying to determine if they were connected.
The man suspected of carrying out the weekend bombings in New York City and New Jersey has been charged over the shoot-out with police which led to his arrest.
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”.
Rahami was apprehended by police after a shootout with law enforcement earlier Monday.
By the time news media arrived, Rahami was restrained and was being taken away on what appeared to be an ambulance gurney.
“We all have a role to play as citizens to make sure we don’t succumb to that fear”.
He said there was no indication a terror cell was active in the area. “My experience is once the Federal Bureau of Investigation zeroes in on someone, they will get them”.
Local residents in Elizabeth, who had encountered Mr Rahami in his work at the family’s fried chicken bar, said the family were ordinary and “Americanised”.
A naturalized U.S. citizen from Afghanistan, Mr Rahami lived with his family in an apartment in Elizabeth, New Jersey, over a fried-chicken restaurant owned by his father.
In 2011, they filed a lawsuit accusing the city of discrimination.
“He’s always in there”.
MAN: He’s a very friendly guy. It’s hard when it’s home.
Rahami was questioned every time he entered the United States, as is standard procedure, one official told CNN on Monday.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk about the investigation. Bains first spotted him about 6:45 a.m. on a bench outside Merdie’s Tavern, which is about 3 miles south of where police found a backpack containing bombs the night before.
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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.
