Terror Strikes New York and New Jersey

Terror Strikes New York and New Jersey

Dan Gannon

for The Clock

           The FBI announced Monday morning that a man wanted in connection with a bombing in New York and New Jersey and pipe bombs found in New Jersey had been apprehended.  Authorities say that Ahmad Khan Rahami, 28, of Elizabeth, New Jersey is in Custody after an intense gunfight with law enforcement.

            Local, state, and federal law enforcement are still trying to piece together what happened and the motivations behind the attack, but what is known is that early Saturday morning a device detonated inside a garbage can near the finish line of a charitable Marine Corps run in Seaside Park, New Jersey.  Nobody was seriously injured from the blast.

            Later that evening another garbage can exploded, injuring 29 people in New York.  Another device was found but did not go off.  Authorities were swift to take action and on Sunday night discovered pipe bombs in a backpack near a train station in Elizabeth, New Jersey.  Before authorities could investigate, the bombs detonated. Luckily nobody was injured. 

            After review of surveillance footage, police were able to identify a person of interest seen leaving duffle bags behind near where the bomb detonated in New York.  The images of the suspect went viral, and a bar owner in Linden, New Jersey stunned to find the suspect sleeping in the doorway of his bar. 

            The owner notified law enforcement, and when officers approached the man identified as Ahmad Rahami, he pulled out a handgun and shot an officer in the abdomen.  A running gun battle ensued and Rahami was shot in the shoulder and chest and taken into custody.  Another officer was also wounded but both officers are being treated for non-life threatening injuries, as is Ahmad. 

             According to the FBI, Ahmad Khan Rahami is an Afghanistan native who became a naturalized United States citizen.  He has traveled to Afghanistan multiple times in the past few years.  FBI Special Agent William Sweeney said, “A fingerprint found on one of the devices that did not explode ties him to one of devices in New York that did not detonate.”  The FBI is investigating if there is an active terror cell in New York and New Jersey.   

The FBI is working to see if there is any connection between these attacks and the stabbing spree in a Minnesota mall that left nine wounded and the attacker dead.  Before the attack, the attacker pledged his allegiance to the Islamic State.  Tensions are high as the United Nations General Assembly is set to take place in New York this Friday.  New York Governor, Andrew Cuomo remarked he “wouldn’t be surprised if we found a foreign connection to the act.”