Update 11.30am: The man believed to be behind the Manhattan bomb blasts has now been taken into custody, according to law enforcement officials.
The arrest came just hours after the police sent an alert to millions of cellphone users in the area, prompting citizens to call the police if they had any information about the man’s location.
This is the first time that this kind of emergency alert is directly sent to people’s cellphones to help the search for a wanted suspect. As the Next Web points out, these this system is normally is only in cases of extreme crisis situations and weather warnings (AMBER alerts.)
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A man sought in connection to the two explosions that rocked the New York neighborhood of Chelsea Saturday night, injuring 29 people, has been identified as 28 year old Ahmad Khan Rahami — and the manhunt is underway.
New York governor Andrew Cuomo had initially said during a press event on Sunday that if the attacks were without doubt “acts of terrorism,” there was so far no evidence that the perpetrators were linked to wider international terrorist networks.
His position appeared to have shifted on Monday, as he told CNN he wouldn’t be surprised if further evidence did establish “a foreign connection to the act.” But he refused to say whether he thought the triple attacks were in any way related to ISIS.
The police detained five men of Muslim descent suspected to have possible links to the Chelsea attack on Sunday night, and launched a raid in Elizabeth, New Jersey early Monday morning after it was found that a backpack containing multiple explosive devices had been left atop a municipal trash can. One device exploded after a remotely controlled robot attempted to disarm it.
The police released the picture of Rahami, a 28-year old man described as a US citizen of Afghan descent, prompting anyone having any information relating to this case to contact the FBI immediately.
“I want to be very clear that this individual could be armed and dangerous,” Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York said on Monday “Anyone seeing him should call 911 immediately.”
According to the New York Post, law enforcement officials are now investigating the possible existence of terrorist cell with nerve centers in both states.
Both the bombs found in Manhattan and New Jersey were made with all manner of explosive compounds, wires, pipes, pressure cookers and Christmas lights, The New York Times reported late Sunday, quoting law enforcement officials.
[Picture Credit: ABC 7]