Ahmad Khan Rahami, the primary suspect in three separate bombing incidents in New York City and New Jersey, was taken into custody in Linden, N.J., after a shootout with police.
Linden Mayor Derek Armstead said that the owner of a bar reported someone asleep in the doorway of his establishment.
When Linden police approached the man, the man raised his head and that’s when one of the officers recognized him as Rahami, Capt. James Sarnicki said.
“The suspect pulled out a gun and fired at the officer and striking him in the abdomen,” Sarnicki said, adding the officer was shot in his bulletproof vest.
Officials say two officers were eventually shot, although neither suffered serious injuries. Rahami was also shot multiple times by officers and was taken to a hospital.
Photo of arrest of Ahmad Khan Rahami, suspect in Chelsea bombing, September 19, 2016.
A massive manhunt was launched and millions of New York City-area residents were alerted directly earlier Monday after police identified Rahami as a suspect in connection with the Chelsea bombing that injured 29 people.
Cellphone users across the tri-state area were alerted to the 28-year-old suspect’s name and description around 8 a.m. on Monday with a system normally reserved for flash flood warnings and Amber alerts.
Around the time Rahami was taken into custody, President Barack Obama was in New York on a previously scheduled visit for a meeting of the U.N. General Assembly, and said it was “extremely fortunate” nobody was killed in the bombings.
He called on Americans to show the world “we will never give in to fear.”
“We all have a role to play as citizens to make sure we don’t succumb to that fear. And there’s no better example of that than the people of New York and New Jersey,” the president said. “Folks around here, they don’t get scared.”
Officials say surveillance video places Rahami at the scene of both the bomb that exploded in Chelsea, as well as the one that failed to explode and was taken away by police.
Rahami was identified at least in part because he left a fingerprint on one of the unexploded devices.
Investigators believe Rahami may be part of a terror cell and they considered him extremely dangerous
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