United States security sources said Rahami had secondary screening after returning from overseas and passed every time.
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Ahmad Khan Rahami, 28, was found sleeping in a Linden, New Jersey bar doorway after a massive manhunt, following the NY explosion that injured 29 people and the discovery of other unexploded devices planted across two states.
Rahami lived with his family above their fried-chicken restaurant in Elizabeth and his relatives have clashed with the city over closing times and noise complaints they said were tinged with anti-Muslim sentiment.
Rahami indiscriminately opened fired on police, officials said, injuring another officer with broken auto glass that struck his forehead.
Police had already been investigating a Manhattan bombing, a Minnesota mass stabbing and a New Jersey pipe bomb blast.
Authorities apprehended Rahami, a USA citizen who was born in Afghanistan, during a violent standoff earlier Monday.
His reported arrest came around four hours after the Federal Bureau of Investigation released a mugshot of the brown-haired and bearded Rahami, calling him “armed and unsafe”, in text message alerts sent to millions of people in the NY area.
Officials say that Mr Rahami travelled “extensively” to Afghanistan and Pakistan in recent years, but have not yet found evidence linking him to militant groups such as the Islamic State or the Taliban.
Homeland Security has also arrived at the scene.
Another law enforcement official says investigators pulled over a auto, carrying three men and two women, that was “associated” with Rahami when it appeared headed toward an airport Sunday.
Rahami’s wife left the US a few days before the Manhattan and New Jersey bombings, CNN reported, citing a law enforcement official. A childhood friend told Reuters that Rahami grew a beard and dressed in religious attire after returning from overseas several years ago.
“He was more quiet and more mature”, Jones said.
But some of the family restaurant’s customers said that while Rahami was devout, he was more likely to talk about his interest in cars than to mention faith.
Authorities searched homes in Elizabeth and Perth Amboy, New Jersey, before releasing Rahami’s name and photo and sending a cellphone alert urging the public to call in with any information about him.
They alleged discrimination and harassment in a lawsuit filed against the city and police department, and also accused a neighbouring business owner of saying, “Muslims make too much trouble in this country” and “Muslims don’t belong here”. They notified police headquarters.
The bar owner said he asked the stranger to move along and the suspect apologised.
Rahami was wounded after exchanging fire with police officers on East Elizabeth Ave in Linden and subsequently taken into police custody.
President Barack Obama said this afternoon that he spoke on the phone with the officers who apprehended Rahami. He was shot in the leg during and the arm during the shoot-out with police.
“It’s shocking”, Vasquez said.
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“We must have speedy, but fair trials, and we must deliver a just and very harsh punishment to these people”, Trump told his supporters at an election rally in Florida yesterday.
