Susect in NYC, N.J. Bombings Arrested After Shootout With Police; 2 Officers Hit: Sources
Breaking news update at 8:50 a.m. PT
Two officers were hit in the shootout with Ahmad Khan Rahami in Linden, New Jersey, the mayor of the nearby city of Elizabeth said. One officer's vest was struck, and the other was shot in the hand.
Breaking news update at 8:23 a.m. PT
Ahmad Khan Rahami is taken into custody after a police shootout in New Jersey on Sept. 19, 2016. (Credit: Law enforcement source via WPIX)
Ahmad Khan Rahami is taken into custody after a police shootout in New Jersey on Sept. 19, 2016. (Credit: Law enforcement source via WPIX)
Ahmad Khan Rahami, the man suspected in bombings in New York and New Jersey, is now in custody after a shootout with police, sources said.
The shootout happened Monday in Linden, New Jersey, a local and federal law enforcement official said. Rahami was taken to an ambulance in a stretcher with his right shoulder bloodied and bandaged.
Breaking news update at 8:06 a.m. PT
Ahmad Khan Rahami, the man wanted for questioning in connection with bombings in New York and Seaside Park, New Jersey, is also believed to be connected to the pipe bombs found in a backpack Sunday night in Elizabeth, New Jersey, sources said.
Rahami has been added to key terror watch lists to prevent him from trying to leave the country.
Breaking news update at 9:41 a.m. PT
Ahmad Khan Rahami is now also wanted for questioning in connection with the explosion Saturday in Seaside Park, New Jersey, the FBI said Monday.
New York police announced earlier they are looking for Rahami for questioning in connection with the Saturday bombing in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood, which injured 29 people.
Previous story, published at 6:04 a.m. ET
Bombings in New York and New Jersey over the weekend -- as well as the discovery of several unexploded devices -- have led authorities to believe there may be a terror cell at work in those two states, law enforcement officials told CNN Monday.
And a manhunt is under way for 28-year-old Ahmad Khan Rahami after New York police identified him as wanted in connection with the bombing Saturday night in New York's Chelsea neighborhood, which wounded 29 people.
Earlier Saturday, a garbage can exploded near the starting line of a Marine Corps charity run in Seaside Park, New Jersey.
And on Sunday night, a backpack with multiple bombs inside was found in Elizabeth, New Jersey. As authorities tried to investigate, one of those bombs exploded.
The series of attacks come as New York hosts world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly this week.
Here are the latest developments:
-- Officials want to question Ahmad Khan Rahami because they believe he is the man seen in surveillance videos rolling a duffel bag near the scene of the bombing in Chelsea, according to multiple officials.
-- The FBI described Rahami as a naturalized U.S. citizen of Afghan descent with a last known address in Elizabeth, New Jersey -- the same city where an explosives-laden backback was found Sunday night.
Rahami is about 5 feet, 6 inches tall and weighs about 200 pounds. Rahami has brown hair, brown eyes and brown facial hair.
-- New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday the bombs found over the weekend have similarities, suggesting "there might have been a common linkage." He said the investigation is ongoing, and he "wouldn't be surprised if it zeroes in on a particular individual, today even," and he "wouldn't be surprised if we found a foreign connection to the act."
-- A federal law enforcement official said BBs and ball bearings were among the pieces of metal that appeared to be packed into two pressure cooker bombs in New York. One of those devices exploded on 23rd Street, but the fact that it was partly under a metal trash container may have diminished the force of the blast.
-- Surveillance videos showed the same man near the site of the explosion in Chelsea and where a pressure-cooker device was found four blocks away, several local and federal law enforcement sources told CNN.
The latest bomb discovery
The backpack in Elizabeth, New Jersey, was found around 9:30 p.m. Sunday in a wastebasket outside a neighborhood pub -- about 500 feet from a train trestle, officials said.
It contained up to five devices, Elizabeth Mayor Chris Bollwage said. The two men who found the backpack thought it might contain something valuable, but they alerted police when they saw wires and a pipe on the devices, the mayor said.
Bomb technicians sent a robot to examine the devices. As the robot was doing so, one of the devices detonated.
"The robot that went in to disarm it, cut a wire and it exploded," Bollwage said.
The remaining four devices in the backpack will be transferred in protective cases to a local site and then will be taken to the FBI laboratory at Quantico, Virginia, Bollwage said.
Police checked all garbage cans in the immediate area, but found no other suspicious items.
Police continued to search Linden and Elmora streets, close to where the backpack was found, on Monday morning. The search was connected to the ongoing terror investigation, a law enforcement source said.
Trains resumed Monday morning after the New Jersey Transit suspended service going through Elizabeth station on Sunday night. Elizabeth is about 16 miles southwest of New York City. Both New Jersey Transit and Amtrak warned of delays following the incident.
The bombing in New York's Chelsea neighborhood
Saturday's explosion shook New York City's Chelsea neighborhood and sent panicked people scrambling for cover. By Sunday, 26 of the injured who had been admitted to hospitals had been released.
A few blocks away from the blast site and shortly after the explosion occurred, investigators found a pressure cooker on 27th street with dark-colored wiring sticking out, connected by silver duct tape to what appeared to be a cell phone, officials said.
Surveillance video shows a man dragging what appears to be a duffel bag with wheels near the site of the West 23rd street explosion about 40 minutes before the blast, according to multiple local and federal law enforcement sources.
About 10 minutes later, surveillance video shows the same man with what appears to be the same duffel bag on West 27th street, multiple law enforcement sources said.
In the video, the man leaves the duffel bag where police later found the unexploded pressure cooker. After he leaves, the video shows two other men removing a white garbage bag believed to contain the pressure cooker from the duffel bag and leaving it on the sidewalk, according to a senior law enforcement official and another source familiar with the video.
Investigators have not determined if those two men are connected to the man with the duffel bag on both streets, the sources said.
The device was transported to the NYPD Bomb Squad facility at Rodman's Neck Range in the Bronx.
NYPD and FBI Bomb technicians rendered the device safe. A forensic examination of the device and its components will be conducted at the FBI Laboratory at Quantico, Virginia.
Shortly before 9 p.m. Sunday, the FBI and New York police stopped a vehicle of interest in the investigation, according to a statement from FBI. No one has been charged with any crime and the investigation is ongoing, the statement said.
'Bigger than ever' NYPD presence
New Yorkers will see an increased police presence around the city this week, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said.
Heightened security across the city is common as world leaders arrive for the UN General Assembly meeting, which is under way.
But after the Chelsea bombing, Gov. Cuomo said 1,000 additional New York State Police officers and National Guard troops will be deployed to patrol bus terminals, airports and subway stations.
"You should know you will see a very substantial NYPD presence this week -- bigger than ever," de Blasio said.
