New York bomber convicted in shootout with New Jersey police.
Afghanistan-born U.S. citizen already serving life in prison
Elizabeth, N.J. — An Islamic terrorist already serving a life prison term for a bombing in New York City was convicted Tuesday of multiple counts of attempted murder and assault stemming from a shootout with police three years ago.
Ahmad Khan Rahimi, a U.S. citizen who was born in Afghanistan but grew up in New Jersey, sat quietly during the reading of the verdicts Tuesday.
Among the spectators in the gallery was Angel Padilla, the Linden police officer who was the first to encounter Rahimi as he slept in a doorway in September 2016, two days after a bomb exploded in New York.
Padilla said he immediately recognized Rahimi from wanted pictures and was in the process of questioning him when Rahimi rose and shot him twice. Padilla’s bulletproof vest is credited with saving his life.
Padilla, one of three Linden officers involved in the shooting who have since retired, recalled the next chaotic minutes.
“It felt like it lasted forever,” he said. “But I would say it lasted no more than two or three minutes. Here I am, I’ve just been shot in the vest, I’m trying to see if I’m wounded and at the same time I’m trying to keep an eye on him so he doesn’t get away, and I’m trying to take cover.”
Other officers joined the chase, captured on surveillance camera footage that was shown to jurors during the trial. Rahimi was shot and wounded before he was apprehended.
The jury convicted Rahimi on Tuesday of all 30 counts: attempted murder and multiple aggravated assault counts against each of five officers, plus several weapons charges. In doing so, jurors rejected an argument by Rahimi’s attorney that he acted in self-defense.
“Today’s verdict is a testament to the incredible bravery of the officers of the Linden police department,” acting Union County Prosecutor Lyndsay Ruotolo said. “They went into the line of fire three years ago with their minds not on their personal safety, only on the safety of the public.”
Rahimi was previously convicted in a separate trial of planting two bombs in New York City’s Chelsea neighborhood, one of which detonated with enough force to hurl a 100-pound trash bin more than 120 feet, shatter windows and leave metal scraps strewn on the street.
No one was killed, but 30 people suffered injuries, including cuts caused by flying metal and glass. A second bomb planted on the street failed to explode.
The bombing came just hours after a small pipe bomb detonated harmlessly along the route of a Marine Corps charity road race in Seaside Park, N.J.
Investigators identified him as a suspect through a mobile phone attached to the Manhattan bomb that didn’t detonate.
As authorities hunted for him, they discovered a backpack containing additional explosives near a New Jersey transit station in Elizabeth, New Jersey.
Rahimi still faces a six-count federal criminal complaint in New Jersey charging him with detonating the bomb at the charity road race and with placing the bomb-filled backpack near the train station.