Updated September 20, 2016 06:51:11
The man suspected of carrying out the New York City bombing that injured 29 people and planting other devices in New York and New Jersey has been arrested after a gun battle.
Key points:
- Suspect sustains gunshot injuries in shootout
- Two officers shot but not believed to have life-threatening injuries
- Five other suspects taken into custody then released without charge
- New York Mayor says authorities not searching for anyone else
Ahmad Khan Rahami, a 28-year-old Afghanistan-born US citizen who lives in Elizabeth, New Jersey, was injured in the gunfight, as were two officers.
The suspect was taken by ambulance to a local hospital following his capture in Linden, New Jersey, about 32 kilometres outside New York.
Police in Linden had earlier received a call about a man sleeping in a doorway.
When they arrived, one officer recognised the man as the bombing suspect and tried to rouse him, Linden Police Captain James Sarnicki said.
Rahami opened fire and hit the officer, who was wearing a bullet-proof vest, in the abdomen.
Rahami also fired through the windshield of a patrol car, injuring another officer, Captain Sarnicki said. Neither officer is thought to have life-threatening injuries.
The shootout came after New York police released a photo of Rahami and said they wanted to question him about the explosion in Manhattan's Chelsea neighbourhood on Saturday, as well as a blast earlier that day in Seaside Park, New Jersey.
The attacks came as world leaders prepared to gather at the United Nations in New York for the annual General Assembly this week, just days after the 15th anniversary of the September 11 attacks.
"There is no other individual we're looking for at this point in time," New York Mayor Bill de Blasio added, as he called on New Yorkers to remain vigilant in the aftermath of the incidents.
Mr Sweeney said five suspects taken into custody late on Sunday (local time) in Brooklyn after they had been observed in a car at a location associated with Rahami had been released without charge.
The US has seen a series of large-scale attacks, including mass shootings in Orlando, Florida, and San Bernardino, California, over the past year.
"Yesterday there was no hint of any connection foreign terrorism … but there may very well turn out to be a link to foreign terrorist organisations, and that we'll find out today or in the coming days," New York Governor Andrew Cuomo told reporters.
Officials probe New jersey backpack
In addition to the two incidents, officials are probing a backpack containing bombs found in a New Jersey train station on Sunday, and an unexploded pressure-cooker bomb located blocks away from the Chelsea blast site.
No-one was injured in those other blasts.
As reports of Rahami being taken into custody were being released, US President Barack Obama said he saw no connection between the explosions and a separate weekend incident where a man stabbed nine people at a mall in central Minnesota before being shot dead.
He said authorities were investigating the stabbing, which has been claimed by the Islamic State (IS) group, as a potential act of terrorism.
"The FBI is investigating the Minnesota incident as a potential act of terrorism," Mr Obama said.
"We will direct the full resources of the federal government to make sure that the investigation goes forward aggressively."
Before the suspect was captured, the two US presidential candidates weighed in on the New York bombing.
Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton said the US needed to work with its allies to combat global terrorism and that the country should launch an "intelligence surge" to detect attacks before they are carried out.
"This is a fast-moving situation and a sobering reminder that we need steady leadership in a dangerous world," she said.
Republican nominee Donald Trump, who has based much of his campaign message on arguing that the US is no longer safe and that he alone can protect the nation, told Fox News that he expects more attacks.
"Yeah, because we've been weak. Our country's been weak," he said.
Federal authorities believe that the explosion in Chelsea, where another explosive device was found nearby, was linked to as many as six explosive devices found just outside New York in Elizabeth.
Reuters
First posted September 19, 2016 22:29:05
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