By Eliott C. McLaughlin, CNN
A man wearing a homemade pipe bomb detonated his explosive in a walkway at the Port Authority Bus Terminal near Times Square on Monday, injuring three people and causing chaos in one of the busiest commuter hubs in the city, officials said.
(Akayed Ullah, a 27-year-old Bangladeshi man, reportedly inspired by ISIS set off a pipe bomb inside New York’s Port Authority bus terminal during rush hour Monday morning. Courtesy of Fox News and YouTube. Posted on Dec 11, 2017)
Latest developments
Akayed Ullah was taken into custody on Sunday.
Motive: Ullah told investigators he carried out the attack because of recent Israeli actions in Gaza, a law enforcement source said.
More on suspect: In conversations with authorities, Ullah pledged allegiance to ISIS, according to one law enforcement official with direct knowledge of the investigation.
He is of Bangladeshi descent and lives in Brooklyn, two law enforcement sources told CNN.
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: Ullah came to the United States in 2011 on an F43 family immigrant visa, said Department of Homeland Security spokesman Tyler Houlton.
He is now a lawful permanent resident.
According to the State Department, F43 visas are granted to children of American citizens’ siblings.
(New York police have named 27-year-old Brooklyn resident Akayed Ullah as the suspect who was wearing a homemade explosive device that detonated at the Port Authority bus terminal near Times Square. Courtesy of CNN and YouTube. Posted on Dec 11, 2017)
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.
Type of device: Ullah wore an “improvised low-tech explosive device attached to his body,” which he intentionally detonated, Police Commissioner James O’Neill said.
The device, a pipe bomb, was attached to Ullah with Velcro and zip ties, said John Miller, NYPD deputy commissioner of intelligence and counterterrorism.
How bomb was made: According to a senior New York law enforcement official and a city official being briefed on the investigation, Ullah told police he made the device at his workplace.
It’s unclear where he’s employed.
Added Gov. Andrew Cuomo during a news conference, “Anyone can go on the internet and download garbage and vileness on how to put together an amateur-level explosive device, and that is the reality that we live with.”
(New York City subway bomb attack details released by officials. Courtesy of CBC News and YouTube. Posted on Dec 11, 2017)
Being treated: 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.
Other injuries minor: Two victims at Mount Sinai West and one at Mount Sinai Queens are being treated for headaches and ringing in the ears, Nigro said.
Suspect affiliations: It’s unclear if Ullah is linked to any terror organization, but when asked if Ullah was connected to ISIS, O’Neill responded only that Ullah “did make statements, but we will not talk about that.”
Location and time: The blast detonated around 7:20 a.m. ET in an underground walkway connecting two subway lines, officials said.
Terror links?
Mayor Bill de Blasio called the incident an “attempted terrorist attack,” while Police Commissioner James O’Neill called it a “terror-related incident.”
Cuomo said the perpetrator used an amateur “effectively low-tech device.”
“There are also no credible and specific threats against New York City at this time,” de Blasio said.
The A, C and E subway lines were evacuated, NYPD Sgt. Brendan Ryan said.
The subway entrance on Eighth Avenue was closed.
Police respond to an explosion at the Port Authority bus terminal on Monday in New York.
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.
(Akayed Ullah allegedly detonated a pipe bomb underneath New York City’s Port Authority. Here’s what we know about the suspected terrorist. Courtesy of Fox News and YouTube. Posted on Dec 11, 2017)
“Fortunately for us, the bomb partially detonated,” Cuomo said.
“It was not a sophisticated device. It was a homemade device.”
“He did detonate it, but it did not fully have the effect that he was hoping for.”
“The explosive chemical did ignite. It was in a pipe, but the pipe itself did not explode. So he wound up hurting himself.”
A key point of the investigation will be determining if the hallway is where Ullah intended to detonate the device, O’Neill said.
Members of the NYPD forensics team were seen on Eighth Avenue, carrying a large brown bag, which they placed into a police van.
