Ahmad Khan Rahami
Ahmad Khan Rahami
Ahmad Khan Rahami is the man infamously charged with the New York City Bombing in Chelsea, Manhattan and the pipe bombing near Jersey Shore's 5K on September 17, 2016.
According to the New York Police Department, he was arrested at 11 a.m. on September 19 in Linden, New Jersey. It happened in front of Merdie's Tavern on East Elizabeth Avenue.
He got shot and arrested after shooting Officer Angel Padilla, who was wearing a bulletproof vest.
He was spotted by the bar's owner: Harinder Bains.
According to Bains, he called the police around 6:45 AM on a bench outside his bar, which is about 3 miles south of where police found a backpack containing bombs the night before.
The police arrived at his location within 3 to 4 minutes after Bains' call.
Rahami was shot in the shot in the leg, arm and shoulder in the gunfire exchange and taken to the University Hospital in Newark after his arrest.
On September 20, 2016, federal authorities in Manhattan and New Jersey charged Rahami on four counts: [7]
Use of weapons of mass destruction
Bombing a place of public use
Destruction of property by means of fire or explosive
Use of a destructive advice during and in furtherance of a crime of violence
Before the Arrest
2014
Federal agents first became aware of Mr. Rahami around August 2014, when his father shared with them his concerns that his son might be involved in terrorism.
[15]Mr.
Rahami’s father - Mohammad Rahami - told them of his concerns about his son’s possible involvement in terrorism after he stabbed his brother in the leg with a knife.
“Two years ago I go to the F.B.I. because my son was doing really bad, O.K.?” Mohammad Rahami said.
“But they check almost two months, they say, ‘He’s O.K., he’s clean, he’s not a terrorist.’ I say O.K....
Now they say he is a terrorist.
I say O.K.”
2016
Cellphone Video:
Two days before the bombing in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, Mr. Rahami was filmed igniting a device in the backyard of his home in Elizabeth, New Jersey .
Federal investigators said the video shows Mr. Rahami in his backyard, lighting the fuse of a small cylindrical object in the ground followed by a loud noise and flames, smoke and laughter.
Making the Bombs:
According to the criminal complaint, Mr. Rahami had been meticulously planning his attack since at least June.
He acquired the materials he used to construct his weapons via eBay, where he was registered as “ahmad rahimi.”
[15]Some of the items he bought included "Ammo Slingshot Steelies” and electric igniters.
Officials say he bought the materials between June 20 and August 10.
Records show that the user bought an electric igniter (for a fireworks system) on July 12.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation said that “an analysis of the 27th Street bomb identified numerous electric igniters inside.”
[7]On July 31, the user bought a circuit board, which the authorities said could be used in explosive devices.
On August 10, the user bought what authorities believe to be citric acid, which was described on the online auction site as being “great for bath bombs and candy making.”
[14]The F.B.I. described citric acid as a precursor for improvised explosives.
On various dates, the user bought items listed as 'milling balls' and 'slingshot ammo,' which investigators said could be used to increase a bomb’s fragmentation.
The items were shipped to a business where Mr. Rahami worked.
Personal
He is described as a naturalized citizen of Afghan descent, and is 28 years old.
In July 2011, he married his wife, Asia Bibi Rahami, in Pakistan while Rahami was spending several weeks in the Middle East region.