USA TODAY International Edition
SUSPECT CHARGED AFTER SHOOTOUT
Police officer shot when he confronts subject of manhunt outside bar
A suspect in New York- area bombings was charged Monday with five counts of attempted murder of a law enforcement officer after he was captured in a bloody shootout on a New Jersey street.
Ahmad Khan Rahami, 28, and two Linden police officers were wounded in the gunfight — hours after authorities found more explosives at a New Jersey train station, raided an apartment nearby, issued a wanted poster and began to link a blast that injured 29 people Saturday in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood with other bombs.
Authorities were led to Rahami by a fingerprint found on an unexploded device near the Chelsea blast, a federal law enforcement official told USA TODAY on Monday.
The intense manhunt came to a swift conclusion after Rahami, a naturalized U. S. citizen from Afghanistan, was found sleeping in the doorway of a bar, Linden Mayor Derek Armstead said. Rahami shot the responding officer — who was wearing a protective vest — in the abdomen, Armstead said.
Rahami then began shooting “indiscriminately” along Elizabeth Avenue, police said, and another officer was injured in the hand.
More officers joined the gunbattle, and Rahami was shot in the leg and arm before being taken into custody, police Capt. James Sarnicki said.
Union County Prosecutor Grace Park said Rahami underwent surgery on his leg. She said the injuries to the officers were not critical.
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said Rahami was the sole suspect.
“There is no other individual we are looking for right now,” de Blasio said. “We have reason to believe this was an act of terror.”
The FBI wanted poster, issued hours before the arrest, warned that Rahami “should be considered armed and dangerous.”
Preet Bharara, U. S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said he believed Rahami would be charged with shooting the police officers Monday in Linden.
As far as bomb- related charges, Bharara said, “we’re going to take a lot of care and a lot of time” before proceeding to court.
FBI Special Agent William Sweeney said there was no indication that Rahami was part of a terror cell.
Rahami’s last known address was listed in neighboring Elizabeth, and federal authorities conducted a raid there Monday at an apartment above a fried chicken restaurant operated by Rahami’s father.
Elizabeth Mayor Christian Bollwage said a traffic stop conducted by FBI agents in New York City led to the search warrant for the apartment.
The search did not immediately reveal evidence that explosives had been assembled there, the federal law enforcement official told USA TODAY.
The official, who was not authorized to comment publicly, said investigators were searching for other locations the suspect may have used.
Officials scoured Rahami’s communications to determine whether others may have assisted in the planning, construction and the selection of targets.
Five people were questioned at length, but Sweeney said none was charged.
The explosion in Chelsea rocked the neighborhood and blew windows out of buildings. Shortly thereafter, an unexploded pressure- cooker device was found sitting on a sidewalk four blocks away and was analyzed by the FBI.
Video surveillance showed two men removing the pressure- cooker from a piece of luggage, then walking off with the luggage.
Hours before the Chelsea blast, a pipe bomb exploded in a Seaside Park, N. J., trash can before a 5K charity run that was to benefit Marines and sailors.
No one was injured, but the race was canceled.
New Jersey state police posted a notice on Facebook saying Rahami was wanted for questioning in that blast.
Monday, a device found in a backpack near the Elizabeth train station exploded while a bomb squad robot was trying to disarm it. Bollwage said the device was found in a bag in a trash can by two men who reported seeing wires and a pipe coming out of the package.
There were no timers or cellphones found with the bomb, Bollwage said, leading investigators to suspect the device had been discarded quickly. “The speculation is that someone was disposing of evidence because law enforcement, we believe, was getting close,” he said.