“The “Be on the lookout” (BOLO) notice described him as 5’6″ tall, driving a 2003 blue Honda Civic with New Jersey license plates.
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“We have directly linked Rahami to the devices in NY and to the one in New Jersey on Saturday”, said FBI Agent William Sweeney.
On Saturday morning, the bomb that went off at the race in New Jersey detonated while no bystanders were around, so no one was injured and no structures were damaged. The FBI declined to disclose the nature of the connection, citing an ongoing investigation.
An unexploded pressure cooker was found four blocks from the site of the NY bombing in Chelsea. It had been left behind in a rolling suitcase, which was picked up by two “well-dressed young men”, local media reported.
There is no evidence that Rahami’s family knew of the attack or in any way aided Ahmad’s alleged crimes. Police have not yet linked the backpack to the suspect but are exploring its connection to the other incidents. That device had been placed inside a metal garbage container, so the force of the blast was channeled upward. Because the bomb had been placed in a dumpster, which had thick metal sides, the explosion didn’t kill anyone, and almost all of the people injured escaped without any serious damage. Rahami is connected to another bombing 80 miles away in Seaside, NJ, earlier Saturday morning.
Terror attacks are increasingly global, but NY is a target and authorities and locals should always be in a state of readiness, Cuomo told reporters Monday at Penn Station, where he met with first responders. Rahami attended the college from 2010-2012 but did not graduate.
The restaurant, First American Fried Chicken, is owned by Rahami’s father and has also employed some of his brothers, Elizabeth Mayor Christian Bollwage said.
“The City Council voted to shut it down at 10 p.m.”, Elizabeth Mayor Chris Bollwage said at a news conference on Monday.
NY governor Andrew Cuomo said investigators found there were “certain commonalities among the bombs”, leading authorities to believe “that there was a common group behind the bombs”.
Rahami’s father and other family members filed a civil lawsuit in 2011 against the city of Elizabeth as well as the city’s police department, claiming officers had conspired to “harass them on basis of religion, national origin and race”.
On Sunday night, FBI agents in Brooklyn stopped “a vehicle of interest” in the investigation of the Manhattan explosion, according to FBI spokeswoman Kelly Langmesser.
Late Sunday night, five explosive devices were discovered in a trash can at an Elizabeth train station. One bomb exploded when a police robot attempted to disarm it, damaging the robot.
After the descriptions of Rahami and his auto were made public, someone called to report seeing the vehicle on the grounds of the US Military Academy at West Point, New York, on Monday morning. New Yorkers barely seemed to bat an eyelid.
Linden police chief James Sarnicki said the officer who found Rahami had demanded the suspect put up his hands when he woke up. He was reportedly found sleeping in the doorway of a bar by the owner, who alerted the police.
A photo of Rahami, published in the Edison High School yearbook when he graduated in 2007, shows him with a carefully groomed goatee, wearing a crimson vest and tie.
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Two officers were wounded in the shootout but were not believed to be seriously hurt, authorities said. Rahami was arrested and taken to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
