NEW YORK: The Afghan-born American suspect wanted in connection with weekend bombings in New York and New Jersey was taken into custody on Monday after being wounded in a shootout with police, an official said.
Ahmad Khan Rahami, 28, was shown stretchered into an ambulance, sporting a bloodied bandage on his right arm and moving his head from side to side with his eyes open in Linden, New Jersey, according to ABC footage.
Two Linden police officers were also shot and hurt in the exchange, said the mayor of the suspect’s neighboring hometown Elizabeth.
“Mr Rahami is currently under arrest. This occurred on Elizabeth Avenue in the city of Linden,” Elizabeth Mayor Chris Bollwage told CNN.
“One police officer in the city of Linden was shot in the chest and one was shot in the hand. Mr. Rahami also sustained shots,” Bollwage added.
Contacted by AFP, police in Linden said they had no immediate comment.
Rahami is wanted in connection with Saturday bombings in New York’s Chelsea, which wounded 29 people, and a pipe bomb attack on the Jersey shore, which caused no injuries but forced the cancellation of a US Marine Corps race.
His reported arrest came around four hours after the FBI released a mugshot of the brown-haired and bearded Rahami, calling him “armed and dangerous,” in text message alerts sent to millions of people in the New York area.
FBI officers also overnight found and defused a nest of bombs planted at the train station in Elizabeth.
