Law enforcement officials have released a photo of a man wanted for questioning in connection with Saturday night’s explosion in Chelsea.
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Suspect Ahmad Khan Rahami, 28, a naturalized USA citizen of Afghan descent, was taken into custody following a shootout in Linden, N.J., Elizabeth Mayor Christian Bollwage said.
Rahami was born on January 23, 1988, in Afghanistan, and his most recent known address was in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Ahmad Khan Rahami has black hair, brown eyes, and black facial hair.
Officials said that device, too, would be sent to the Federal Bureau of Investigation lab in Quantico, though Cuomo noted the pipe bombs used in New Jersey “appear to be different” than those in NY.
A few blocks away from the blast site and shortly after the explosion occurred, investigators found one possible lead: a pressure cooker, with dark-colored wiring sticking out, connected by silver duct tape to what appears to be a cellphone, officials said.
The suspects were stopped as they drove along the Belt Parkway in Brooklyn on Sunday night. The explosion was from an apparent homemade device placed in front of a residence for the blind and near a major thoroughfare with many restaurants.
She said the investigation was continuing.
Meanwhile, police are ramping up security around the five boroughs because of the blast.
Many developments have emerged since Saturday’s explosion, which occurred around 8:30 p.m. ET.
“I was sitting in my apartment, and all of a sudden I heard a big boom, and I thought to myself wait a minute, it can’t be thundering and lightning at this hour, and then all of a sudden vehicle horns went off, and I thought oh my god this isn’t lightning, this is too loud – this is a bomb”, said Stanhope.
A claim of responsibility is no guarantee that the terrorist group directed or even inspired the attack, and authorities said they were still exploring a precise motive.
Law enforcement sources also tell NY1 there is surveillance video identifying a person of interest in connection to a second device found four blocks North on 27th Street. On the other coast, Los Angeles’ police were gearing up for two high-profile events Sunday: the Emmy Awards and the Los Angeles Rams’ first home game since their return from two decades in St. Louis.
An explosive device left near a train station in Elizabeth, New Jersey, blew up early on Monday when a bomb squad robot cut a wire on the mechanism, one of as many as five potential bombs found at the site, the city’s mayor said.
New Jersey Transit train service has been suspended between Elizabeth and Newark Airport, while Amtrak riders should expect delays along the Northeast Corridor Monday. The mayor warned that other explosions were expected.
No worldwide militant group immediately claimed responsibility for the NY blast or a pipe bomb that went off earlier along the route of a Saturday road race in suburban New Jersey.
The men reported the package to police after they “saw wires and a pipe”, Bollwage said.
Parts of Chelsea, on the west side of Manhattan, were cordoned off and some residents had to show a utility bill to get back into their buildings.
Johnson, who represents the neighborhood, is urging people to remain patient with the ongoing street closures. “I don’t know what they’re made up of”, said Bollwage of the package.
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Amtrak said 2,400 passengers were affected, but that schedules returned to normal Monday morning. The 23rd and 28th street stations along Seventh Avenue, which service 1 trains, had also reopened by 10 p.m.
