Suspect in attempted 'terrorist attack' pledged allegiance to ISIS, officials say
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(CNN)It was the latest lone wolf attack to target New York City. And it might have been worse.
A
man wearing a homemade pipe bomb set off the explosive in a busy
transit hub on Monday, injuring five and setting off panic during the
morning commute.
Authorities
said the explosion in a walkway below Port Authority Bus Terminal was
an isolated attempted terrorist attack. Officials said the suspect,
27-year-old Akayed Ullah, pledged allegiance to ISIS and said he acted
in response to Israeli actions in Gaza.
Investigators
said the suspect had at least two devices, a law enforcement source
with knowledge of the investigation told CNN. The device that detonated
was a foot-long pipe that contained black powder, a battery, wiring,
nails and screws. It was attached to Ullah with Velcro and zip ties.
Investigators did not elaborate on the second device, the source said.
The
explosive chemical ignited in the pipe but the pipe itself did not
explode, lessening its impact, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo told CNN's
Wolf Blitzer.
"Fortunately
for us, the bomb partially detonated," he said. "He did detonate it,
but it did not fully have the effect that he was hoping for."
Latest developments
Akayed Ullah was taken into custody Monday.
Ullah's movements: The
suspect was first spotted on a security camera as he began to climb the
subway station stairs to the 18th Avenue F. train platform in Brooklyn
at 6:25 a.m. about an hour before the attack, according to one law
enforcement official with direct knowledge of the investigation.
He
then switched to the A train at Jay St./MetroTech stop in Brooklyn
before exiting the train at the Port Authority Bus Terminal stop in
Manhattan, the same law enforcement official says.
How bomb was made:
The suspect made the bomb last week at his apartment in Brooklyn,
according to one law enforcement official with direct knowledge of the
investigation.
Suspect's condition: Ullah
is at Bellevue Hospital, where he is being treated for lacerations and
burns to his hands and abdomen, New York City Fire Department
Commissioner Daniel Nigro said. Five people were treated for minor
injuries in area hospitals.
His prior credentials:
Ullah held a Taxi & Limousine Commission license from March 2012 to
March 2015, after which the license was not renewed, TLC spokesman
Allan Fromberg said. It's unclear "whether he drove for any particular
base, or whether he simply got the license but didn't drive at all,"
Fromberg said.
Residency: He is of Bangladeshi descent and lives in Brooklyn, two law enforcement sources told CNN. Ullah came to the United States in 2011 on an F43 family immigrant visa, said Department of Homeland Security spokesman Tyler Houlton. He is a lawful permanent resident.
What his neighbor says: Alan
Butrico owns a Brooklyn building next to the home where he says Ullah
lives with his family. He said Ullah lives in the basement, while his
sister and brother live above him. "He wasn't friendly at all. The
family was very quiet themselves. They don't talk to nobody. They just
stay there," he said, adding that his tenants reported hearing
"screaming and yelling" coming from Ullah's home the last two nights.
The tenants did not call police, he said.
Akayed Ullah fell to the ground after the incident.
'Just a lot of chaos'
Port Authority police watch as people evacuate after the explosion.
The blast
detonated around 7:20 a.m. in an underground walkway connecting two
subway lines beneath the bus terminal, which accommodates 220,000
passenger trips a day.
On grainy
surveillance footage, commuters are seen walking through a tunnel when a
burst of smoke erupts into the hallway, quickly filling it. Commuters
flinch and take cover. When the smoke clears, a man can be seen lying on
the ground in the hallway.
Francisco Ramirez said he was exiting a bus when he heard two blasts, even though he was wearing headphones.
"From
what I saw it sounded like it came from the subway, but I'm just
guessing," he said. "It was two distinct explosions seconds from each
other. As I was making my way toward the outside, I kept getting shoved
by cops and there were cops at every entrance blocking and there was
police and SWAT everywhere.
"It was scary. It was just a lot of chaos but I didn't see any injuries."
Marlyn Yu Sherlock was at a
retail store on the main floor of the terminal when people began
flooding out of the subway entrance, "screaming, running in panic," she
said.
"The PA system was still
blaring Christmas carols," Sherlock said. "It took about four minutes
before men in black cop uniforms started shooing people out of Port
Authority. As I walked further away from the building, I kept asking the
heavily armed cops what it was. They said 'suspicious package.'"
Terror links?
Police
Commissioner James O'Neill called it a "terror-related incident." A key
point of the investigation will be determining if Ullah intended to
detonate the device in the hallway, he said.
Four
Port Authority Police Officers confronted the suspect in the
smoke-filled passageway and intervened, the president of the Port
Authority Police Benevolent Association said. He identified the officers
as Sean Gallagher, Drew M. Preston, John "Jack" F. Collins and Anthony
Manfredini.
"Today, four courageous
Port Authority police officers risked their lives confronting an armed
terrorist to protect others from harm," Paul Nunziato said.
Mayor Bill de Blasio called
the incident an "attempted terrorist attack" and said there were no
credible, specific threats against the city at this moment.
Police respond to an explosion at the Port Authority bus terminal on Monday in New York.
By Monday afternoon, all subway stations with direct access to the terminal were reopened. The passageway remained closed.
Previous attacks
Firefighters arrive on the scene of the explosion on Monday.
The incident comes a few weeks after a deadly terror attack in Lower Manhattan.
A
man was charged with killing eight people and injuring a dozen others
as he drove a pickup truck down a bicycle path near the World Trade
Center on Halloween. He was arrested after the truck hit a school bus,
stopping it in its tracks. He exited the vehicle and an officer shot
him.
The suspect, Sayfullo
Habibullaevic Saipov, was indicted last month on murder and
terror-related charges, the US Attorney's Office for the Southern
District of New York said. Saipov pleaded not guilty to 22 federal
counts.
The Halloween incident was
the deadliest terror attack in New York City since the September 11,
2001, attack on the World Trade Center.
The
incident came less than a year after a pressure cooker bomb went off in
New York's Chelsea neighborhood, wounding 30 people. A second pressure
cooker bomb was found a few blocks away but didn't detonate. In October,
a jury convicted Ahmad Rahimi of eight federal charges in connection with the September 2016 incident.
