Officials identify suspect in Manchester concert attack
MANCHESTER, England — The 22-year-old man suspected of killing 22 people in a suicide bombing in Manchester, for which the Islamic State has claimed responsibility, is an English-born son of Libyan immigrants, according to officials and news reports.
An investigator in protective forensic gear was photographed carrying a booklet titled “KNOW YOUR CHEMICALS!” out of a Manchester address linked to Salman Abedi, the suspect, as officials executed search warrants on two properties in the area to determine how the bomb was assembled and whether Abedi had any help.
Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the Monday evening bombing outside an Ariana Grande concert, where concertgoers — many of them girls and young women — had just left the 21,000-seat Manchester Arena. Investigators have not confirmed the group’s involvement in the attack, which wounded more than 59 people.
The bomb used shrapnel designed to cut and kill, but was crudely designed and investigators are determining whether it was homemade, according to U.S. law enforcement officials briefed on the British investigation.
Police have also arrested a 23-year-old man in connection with the bombing but have not released further details about his identity or the nature of his suspected involvement.
The attack prompted condolences from international leaders, including President Donald Trump and France’s newly elected president, Emmanuel Macron.
In Manchester, thousands of well wishers crowded into Albert Square for a Tuesday evening vigil to hear officials pay tribute to the dead beneath the gothic spire of the Manchester Town Hall.
“Today is a day that we all hope and prayed we would not ever see. Families, young children went out last night to enjoy themselves in our wonderful city and tragically lost their lives in a horrific way,” Greater Manchester Police Chief Constable Ian Hopkins told listeners, who loudly applauded the work of investigators.
As a chief constable and a father, Hopkins added, “I cannot begin to imagine how anyone can carry out such an unthinkable act.”
In a statement released on social media in both English and Arabic, the militant group Islamic State said a “soldier of the (Caliphate)” had “managed to place explosive devices in the midst of the gatherings of the Crusaders in ... Manchester.”