Rahami was wounded in a shootout with police in Linden, New Jersey, yesterday.
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A detail of an Federal Bureau of Investigation poster, released September 19, 2016, calling on the public to help locate Ahmad Khan Rahami, 28, wanted in connection with bombings in NY and New Jersey.
Ahmad Khan Rahami, a 28-year-old Afghan-born naturalised USA citizen since 2011, had married a Pakistani woman and had made at least three months-long trips to both Pakistan and Afghanistan since 2014.
Investigators said they had not yet determined a motive for the bombings and there was no indication that an extremist cell was operating in the area, William Sweeney of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s NY division told a news conference.
A senior law enforcement official told NBC News that authorities believe Rahami is the man seen in surveillance footage taken Saturday night in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood.
Then an explosion on Saturday night in New York’s Chelsea neighborhood injured 29 people. No one was injured.
Late Sunday night, five explosive devices were discovered in a trash can at an Elizabeth train station, about 3 miles from where Rahami was later found asleep in the doorway of a bar.
He would not say whether they might later face charges.
Ahmad Khan Rahami, 28, was wounded in a shootout yesterday with police in Linden, New Jersey, just four hours after the Federal Bureau of Investigation released his mugshot and sent text message alerts to millions of people. Messages left with phone numbers listed for family members weren’t returned. The family has a history of clashes with the community over the restaurant, which used to be open 24 hours a day, Mayor Chris Bollwage said.
Flee Jones, 27, who said he’d known Rahami since they were teenagers, said Rahami “got more religious” and dressed differently after a trip to Afghanistan several years ago, the AP reported.
Elizabeth resident Ryan McCann said he often ate at the restaurant and recently began seeing Rahami working there more.
William Sweeney Jr., the FBI’s assistant director in NY, said there were no indications Rahami was on law enforcement’s radar at the time of the bombings. The law enforcement officials said at least one of Rahami’s relatives was in the vehicle, which appeared headed toward Kennedy Airport in NY after coming from New Jersey.
“He (the suspect) shot twice and the glass splinters nearly hit my store”, Mr Bains said.
Investigators are also poring over a notebook Rahami had on him when he was shot. A foot chase ensued, during which Rahami shot at a police auto, causing a bullet to graze another officer in the face. Their injuries were not considered life-threatening. “Lot of, lot of gunfire”, he said.
Rahami took out a handgun and shot an officer in the torso, striking him in his protective vest, the prosecutor’s statement said. But authorities have not drawn any connection between the bloodshed there and the bombings. The organization and the Afghan Embassy in Washington condemned the bombings.
The investigations are still ongoing, and New York City officials are preparing to host heads of government from all over the world for the annual United Nations General Assembly week, which will take place in Manhattan.
Rahami had petitioned Rep. Albio Sires (D-NJ) to help bring his wife-who was pregnant at the time- to the country in 2014 after she ran into issues with her visa, the congressman said Monday in a television interview. He gave up on western clothing and wore Muslim robes.
Mr Rahami had not previously been identified as unsafe, but Elizabeth police knew of his family because of late-night noise and crowd complaints at its halal chicken restaurant.
Police reports show Rahami had in the past complaint the police was harassing him over opening and closing hours of his business.
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Rahami’s fingerprint was reportedly found on one of the bombs.
