NY, NJ bombings suspect in custody after wounded in shootout
Afghan-born American nabbed in New Jersey hours after FBI releases mugshot, calls him ‘armed and dangerous’
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The Afghan-born American wanted in connection with weekend bombings in New York and New Jersey was taken into custody on Monday following a shootout with police, US television networks reported.
Ahmad Khan Rahami, 28, was taken into custody by police in Linden, New Jersey, law enforcement officials were quoted as saying by NBC and CNN television.
Police in Linden said they had no immediate comment.
Linden is a neighboring community immediately southwest of Elizabeth, New Jersey — Rahami’s hometown where FBI officers overnight found and defused a nest of bombs planted at the train station.
NY and NJ Bombing Update:
-Suspected bomber is now in custody
–@POTUS says no connection to Minnesota mall stabbing pic.twitter.com/I45yt0fvPZ— BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) September 19, 2016
Rahami is wanted in connection with Saturday bombings in New York’s Chelsea neighborhood, which wounded 29 people, and a pipe bomb attack on the Jersey shore, which caused no injuries but forced the cancellation of a US Marine Corps race.
Rahami’s reported arrest came around four hours after the FBI released a mugshot of the brown-haired and bearded Rahami, calling him “armed and dangerous,” in text message alerts sent to millions of people in the New York area.
Images soon appeared on social media, apparently showing the suspect being wheeled away to an ambulance with gunshot wounds from the shootout with police.
Governor Andrew Cuomo conceded Monday that investigators could no longer rule out international terrorism.
Cuomo had said Sunday that there was no evidence to suggest that the bombing was related to international terrorism, but he appeared to walk that back Monday.
“Today’s information suggests it may be foreign related, but we’ll see where it goes,” he said.
Authorities were still working to determine whether there is a connection between multiple explosive devices found over the weekend in two states: the Manhattan explosion; an unexploded pressure cooker device blocks away; a pipe bomb blast at a Jersey shore town; and five explosive devices at a New Jersey train station.
Cuomo, touring the site of Saturday’s blast that injured 29 people in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood, said the unexploded pressure cooker device appeared “similar in design” to the bomb that exploded in Chelsea, but he didn’t provide details.
On Sunday, a federal law enforcement official said the Chelsea bomb contained a residue of Tannerite, an explosive often used for target practice that can be picked up in many sporting goods stores. The discovery of Tannerite may be important as authorities probe whether the two New York City devices and the pipe bomb at the Jersey shore are connected.
Cellphones were discovered at the site of both 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 an ongoing investigation and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.
The pipe bomb exploded Saturday in Seaside Park, New Jersey, before a charity 5K race to benefit Marines and sailors. The race was canceled and no one was injured.
Late Sunday, five suspicious devices were found near a train station in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Elizabeth Mayor Christian Bollwage said the devices were found in a bag in a trash can by two men who reported seeing wires and a pipe coming out of the package. One of the devices exploded as a bomb squad used a robot to try to disarm it. No injuries were reported.
The Times of Israel Community.