New York bombing suspect arrested

An Afghanistan-born American sought in connection with a bombing that wounded more than two dozen people in New York City and could be linked to other bombs found in New York and New Jersey was taken into custody on Monday after a shoot-out, a New Jersey Mayor said.

Ahmad Khan Rahami of Elizabeth, New Jersey, was taken into custody after firing at police officer in Linden, New Jersey, about 20 miles outside New York, Elizabeth Mayor Chris Bollwage said.

Investigators believe more people were involved in the New York and New Jersey bombing plots, two U.S. officials told Reuters.

The New York Police Department had released a photo of Rahami (28) and said they wanted to question him about a Saturday night explosion that wounded 29 people in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood and for a blast earlier that day in Seaside Park, New Jersey, authorities said.

Earlier on Monday, while identifying the suspect Ahmad Khan Rahami, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Afghanistan, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said he should be considered armed and dangerous.

In addition to the blast in Chelsea on Saturday, a pipe bomb exploded in a New Jersey shore town before a charity 5K race, an unexploded pressure cooker device was found blocks away from the blast site in Chelsea.

Five explosive devices were discovered at a New Jersey train station on Sunday.

Authorities are investigating whether the bombings and explosive devices were related.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said as investigators gathered information they learned there were “certain commonalities among the bombs,” leading authorities to believe “that there was a common group behind the bombs.”

“We need the facts to be able to piece all this together... I think we’re going to know a lot more in the course of the day. Things are moving very quickly,” Mr. de Blasio had said on CNN.

Terror link

Early on Monday, FBI agents swarmed an apartment above a fried chicken restaurant in Elizabeth that’s tied to Rahami. The activity came hours after one of five devices found at the nearby Elizabeth train station exploded while a bomb squad robot attempted to disarm it. No one was injured.

In the immediate aftermath of the New York bombing, Mr. de Blasio and Mr. Cuomo were careful to say there was no evidence of a link to international terrorism. Both said on Monday that appears to be changing.

The White House said President Barack Obama was briefed throughout the night and early on Monday on the investigation. Spokesman Josh Earnest said Mr. Obama will comment publicly later on Monday.

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