Here’s the Chelsea Bomber Meet Ahmad Khan Rahami!
Ahmad Khan Rahami, the 28-year-old suspect wanted in connection with an explosion Saturday night in Manhattan, was arrested Monday in Linden, New Jersey, after a brief shootout.
Officials suspect Rahami is connected to an explosive device that detonated in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood this weekend, injuring 29 people. A second device, described as a pressure-cooker bomb, was found nearby.
This handout provided by the Federal Bureau of Investigation shows Ahmad Khan Rahami, a 28-year-old United States citizen born on Jan. 23, 1988, in Afghanistan. Rahami is believed to be connected to the Chelsea bombing that took place on Saturday night, injuring 29 people.
Linden Mayor Derek Armstead told WABC that the owner of a Linden bar found someone sleeping in the hallway of his bar, and called police.
“One of our police officers went to investigate and to wake him up, and realized that he was [Rahami], the suspect that had been being sought in the bombings,” Armstead said. “He realized it was the suspect and, within moments, the suspect fired on him. And thank God that he had his vest on. And I think that was very helpful for him. I think that saved his life.”
After he shot the officer, Rahami proceeded to walk down the street firing a handgun, Linden Police Capt. James Sarnicki told CBS2.
“The gentleman got up and started walking down the street in a westerly direction,” Sarnicki said. “I’m told that he was randomly discharging his handgun and one of the officers was able to get close enough to him and return fire.”
Video from the scene Monday showed Rahami being loaded into an ambulance after the shootout.
Authorities also suspect Rahami may be connected to a small bomb that detonated along the route of a 5K race in a New Jersey beach town Saturday morning. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said “there are similarities” in the devices found in New York and New Jersey.
“They are not identical, but there are certain similarities in the way the bombs were put together with certain elements, et cetera, suggesting that there might have been a common linkage or a common person behind all the bombs,” Cuomo told CNN.
Rahami’s last known address was in Elizabeth, New Jersey. An unidentified law enforcement official told NBC New York that a fingerprint on one of the unexploded devices helped identify him.
”He certainly seemed to do virtually nothing to cover his tracks,” the official said. The New York Times reported that surveillance video captured footage of Rahami planting the bombs in Manhattan.
Prior to Rahami’s arrest, The New York Times reported that five people, all possibly from the same family, were questioned on Sunday in relation to the bombing. None of them were charged with a crime.
Authorities sent out a cell phone alert early Monday asking people to call 911 if they spotted Rahami.
All 29 injured in Saturday night’s blast have been released from the hospital. It’s not clear what motivated the attack.
No comments:
Post a Comment