News

Ahmad Khan Rahami Was Found Alive

by Krutika Pathi

Ahmad Khan Rahami has been found alive. A photograph of Rahami published by ABC News shows the suspect in regards to the weekend bombings in New York City and New Jersey, injured and on a stretcher. ABC News reported that Rahami has been taken into custody, is alive but wounded after an incident in Linden, New Jersey.

Law enforcement officials have reported that Rahami, a person of interest in the New York City and New Jersey bombings, was taken into custody Monday morning at around 11 a.m. after a shootout with police in Linden, New Jersey, left the suspect wounded. Two police officers were also shot, latest reports indicate. Rahami was taken to a local hospital but his condition remains unclear.

Linden Mayor Derek Armstead told ABC New York that an owner of a local bar in the area reported someone sleeping in a hallway of his establishment. "One of our police officers went to investigate and to wake him up, and realized that he was [Rahami], the suspect that had been being sought in the bombings," Armstead said. "He realized it was the suspect and, within moments, the suspect fired on him. And thank God that he had his vest on. And I think that was very helpful for him. I think that saved his life."

On Saturday morning, a small bomb detonated along the route of a 5K race in Seaside Park, New Jersey. It's not immediately clear if Rahami is linked to this incident as well but New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said "there are similarities" in the devices found in New York and New Jersey.

"They are not identical, but there are certain similarities in the way the bombs were put together with certain elements, et cetera, suggesting that there might have been a common linkage or a common person behind all the bombs," Cuomo told CNN.

The consecutive incidents has put the entire tri-state area on high alert. NBC News reported that police at Rutgers University urged students and faculty to a safe area as they received a call about a suspicious package on campus. The area was cleared safe.

The explosion in New York has heightened tension in the city as the bombing comes close after the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. While there have been no deaths, 29 people have been reported to be injured in the Chelsea explosion.