NEW YORK — Authorities apprehended a 28-year-old man in connection with explosions that rocked Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood and a New Jersey shore town on Saturday.
Police in Linden, New Jersey, arrested Ahmad Khan Rahami on Monday morning, just hours after he was identified as a person of interest in the bombings. He was later charged with five counts of attempted murder of a police officer.
He was being held on $5.2 million bail and remained at a hospital.
He had been apprehended following a police-involved shooting that left two Linden police officers and Rahami injured.
A bomb went off Saturday morning in Seaside Park, New Jersey, state police said. No injuries were reported.
Later Saturday a blast was reported in Chelsea. At least 29 people were injured in the explosion.
Here's what we know so far:
1. Rahami is a "naturalized citizen from Afghanistan," the AP reported. FBI officials said Rahami last listed a home address in Elizabeth, New Jersey, where five pipe bombs were discovered near a train station overnight.
2. Investigators have linked Rahami to the Chelsea and Seaside Park explosions. FBI Special Agent Bill Sweeney declined to elaborate on how Rahami was connected to both blasts during a news conference Monday afternoon.
3. Rahami was not listed in U.S. counterterrorism databases, according to Reuters.
UPDATE: NYC explosions suspect Rahami was not listed on U.S. counterterrorism databases: two officials. https://t.co/kfur22cfat
— Reuters (@Reuters) September 19, 2016
"There's nothing to indicate that he was on our radar," Sweeney said, adding that Rahami did not appear to be operating as part of a broader terror cell.
"(There's) no indication that there's a (terror) cell operating here," he said.
4. Rahami was apprehended in Linden, New Jersey, after authorities initially mistook him for a vagrant, Mayor Derek Armstead said. He fired multiple shots at officers after the recognized him as the person of interest sought in New York and New Jersey, authorities said.
He hit two Linden police officers, Elizabeth, New Jersey, Mayor Chris Bollwage said. One suffered a wound to his hand and the other was shot in his bulletproof vest.
5. Authorities believe Rahami was seen in surveillance video captured Saturday night in Chelsea. New Jersey State Police released additional images of Rahami on Monday morning, including two that appeared to be taken from surveillance footage.
****WANTED FOR QUESTIONING*****
Authorities described Rahami as 5-foot-6 and approximately 200 pounds. He has black hair, brown eyes and black facial hair.
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