PERSON ARRESTED OVER US MAIL-BOMBINGS
Aman in Florida has been arrested in connection with the suspected mail bombs sent to high profile figures, according to a law enforcement official.
The arrest came after authorities Friday responded to two more devices - one in Florida, the other in New York pushing the total number of packages found by law enforcement to 12. None have detonated, but all have put officials high alert as they worried about additional devices being delivered.
A spokeswoman for the Justice Department confirmed that a person was in custody and said more information would be released at a news conference later Friday.
Authorities had been pursuing a lead that some of the devices could have been mailed from South Florida. After news of the arrest broke, FBI agents and other law enforcement personnel could be seen in news footage draping a van in blue tarp in South Florida.
According to a person familiar with the investigation, the man in custody lives in Florida near a facility which the packages were mailed through. It remains unclear if this man acted alone or had help, this person said.
One lead being pursued by investigators is that some of the devices may have been mailed from south Florida, but officials were cautious Thursday and urged the public to call in with tips from anywhere.
News of the arrest emerged hours after investigators recovered the latest explosive devices, packages sent to Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and former director of national intelligence James Clapper.
The FBI said a package, “similar in appearance to the others” found this week, was addressed to Booker and located in Florida. A spokesman for Booker, a prominent Democrat and potential 2020 presidential candidate, declined to comment and referred questions to law enforcement. Police in New York said they were responding to a suspicious package in midtown Manhattan, just blocks from where one of the explosive devices was found earlier this week at CNN’S offices in the Time Warner Center. The package was “safely removed” from the post office, police said.