Earlier on Saturday, another explosion took place, this one in Seaside Park, a coastal community in New Jersey, about 80 miles south of New York City. The race was canceled and no one was injured.
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Federal Bureau of Investigation agents conducted a traffic stop just off the Verrazano bridge, which connects Staten Island to Brooklyn, Sunday night. After cordoning off the area, a bomb squad used a robot to cut a wire to try to disable the device but inadvertently set off an explosion, he said.
The pressure cooker device was discovered on 27th Street late Saturday – four blocks away from the site where a similar bomb exploded, wounding 29 people.
Two officers were wounded in the shootout but were not believed to be seriously hurt, authorities said.
Two men had reported seeing wires and a pipe coming out of a package after finding it at the train station about 8:30 p.m. Sunday.
New York City police investigating a bombing in Manhattan over the weekend said on Monday they wanted to question two men who appeared to stumble over a second device made from a pressure cooker that had been left inside a bag lying on a city street.
“We’re not at a conclusive point yet, but more and more indications suggest a connection between NY and New Jersey”, the mayor added.
“People didn’t know what was going on, and that’s what was scary”, said Anthony Zayas, an actor who was in the Chelsea neighborhood Saturday night when the bomb went off. The blast injured 29 people, none of them fatally.
Authorities say the New York City bomb contained residue of an explosive often used for target practice that can be picked up in many sporting goods stores. His last known address is listed in Elizabeth, N.J., and the poster warns that Rahami “should be considered armed and unsafe”.
Authorities say the man was found sleeping in a bar hallway before his arrest.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo ordered 1,000 additional police officers and National Guard members to patrol New York streets after the Chelsea bombing, which authorities have so far not tied to worldwide terrorism.
Investigators believe there are more people involved in the NY and New Jersey bombing plots than just Rahami, but they do not have a good idea who those people are, two USA officials told Reuters. The police and fire departments both report that none of the injuries appear life-threatening.
NY police Commissioner James O’Neill emphasized how a quick law enforcement response led police to identify Rahami as the suspect and take him into custody just 50 hours after the blast in Manhattan.
Donald Trump patted himself on the back Monday morning for talking about the explosion in NY nearly immediately as it happed, labeling it a “bomb” before details had been confirmed to the public by authorities.
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Meanwhile, a law enforcement official said federal investigators had discounted a claim of responsibility on the social blogging service Tumblr.
