The suspect held on suspicion of carrying out weekend bomb attacks in NY and New Jersey is in critical but stable condition in a hospital, police said Tuesday (Sept 20).
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Federal investigators interviewed Mohammad Rahami in 2014 after a neighbor heard the father scream, “You are a terrorist!” at his son, who had just allegedly punched his sister and stabbed his brother in the leg during a fight, senior law enforcement officials tell NBC News.
Investigators have matched both his fingerprints and DNA from the scene of the Manhattan bombing; he dace was caught by a CCTV camera in the sport of the scene of the blast on Saturday.
Electronic toll records showed that a vehicle to which he had access was driven from New Jersey to Manhattan and back to New Jersey the day of the bombing, according to the officials, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss an ongoing case.
The 28-year-old naturalized US citizen from Afghanistan was captured in Linden, New Jersey, after he was recognized sleeping in the doorway of a bar.
A Sikh bar owner in the USA is being hailed as a hero for helping capture the 28-year-old Afghan-American wanted for the weekend bombings in NY and New Jersey.
Police had also found a suspicious package and required bomb squad and police canine to the scene.
Cellphones were discovered at the site of both the NY and New Jersey bombings, but no Tannerite residue was identified in the New Jersey bomb remnants, in which a black powder was detected, said the official, who wasn’t authorized to comment on the investigation and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity. A senior law enforcement official says investigators do not consider her travel suspicious.
Linden Mayor Derek Armstead said the break in the case came late Monday morning, when the owner of a bar reported someone asleep in his doorway. Two officers were injured during the shootout.
Five IEDs were found in a backpack in a wastebasket on Sunday night in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Rahami was shot multiple times outside of an auto fix shop on the same street, several blocks west of where he was initially approached, the prosecutor said in a statement.
One of those pressure cooker bombs exploded, injuring 29 people and sending people running for their lives.
U.S. President Barack Obama, who is here for the annual UN General Assembly, delivered his first statement in NY since the attacks on Monday morning, commending law enforcement officers and first responders for their professionalism and quick response, and urged Americans not to “succumb to the fear”.
A notebook found on NY and New Jersey bombings suspect Ahmad Khan Rahami contained ramblings about terrorists and also mentioned Anwar al-Awlaki, the Yemeni-American imam who was a spokesman for al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, according to a law enforcement official.
The father contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigation after Ahmad Khan Rahami was charged with stabbing his brother, according to the official, who was not named. At least one officer was injured in the shooting.
The desperate search for a 28-year-old man wanted in connection with a series of blasts that terrorized NY and New Jersey over the last three days ended Monday in a gun battle with police officers.
Five people were pulled over on Sunday night travelling in a auto associated with Rahami, were questioned and released.
Mayor Chris Bollwage said his family, who runs First American Fried Chicken in Elizabeth, has a history of clashes with the community over the restaurant, which used to be open 24 hours a day.
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It wasn’t clear if the suspect was linked to five pipe bombs – one of which was inadvertently detonated by a robot – found at a train station in Elizabeth, New Jersey, late Sunday, not far from where Rahami was later captured.
