Ahmad Khan Rahami, the 28-year-old man, suspected of planting the bombs in New York and New Jersey, was captured on Monday after an Indian bar owner alerted the police about his presence near his business. After the alert, police went on a massive manhunt, which ended in a shootout.
Rahami was captured after he was discovered sleeping in the doorway of a bar by the owner, Harinder Bains. Bains owns Merdie's Tavern, where Rahami was sleeping, and another business across the road. He said that he recognised Rahami while watching the news on his laptop. He called the police after that.
The police and Rahami were involved in a shooting after the 28-year-old fired shots that hit a police officer. Rahami sustained multiple gun shots, after which he was taken to the hospital for surgery.
He was charged with five cases of attempted murder of a law enforcement officer following the shootout with police in Linden, New Jersey, Union County Prosecutor Grace H. Park said. He was also charged with second-degree unlawful possession of a weapon and second-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, CNN reported.
Rahami is believed to be connected to all three terror plots i.e. the bombings in New York City and Seaside Park, New Jersey on Saturday and the five pipe bombs found in Elizabeth, New Jersey on Sunday night, sources said.
Rahami was a naturalised US citizen of Afghan descent who had travelled to Pakistan and Afghanistan multiple times in the last five years.
Five IEDs were found in a backpack in a wastebasket on Sunday night in Elizabeth, New Jersey. The earlier two bombs were pressure cooker bombs with shrapnel inside, similar to those used in the Boston marathon bombing.
"We have every reason to believe this was an act of terror," New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Monday.
While FBI Assistant Director William F. Sweeney Jr., said there is "no indication" of an active operating cell in the New York area, Rep. Adam Schiff and a National Counterterrorism Center official said that Rahami was not working alone.
