Authorities said a low-tech device was detonated in the New York City subway in an incident the mayor called “an attempted terrorist attack.”
The man suspected of setting off the explosion Monday morning in Midtown Manhattan was identified by authorities as 27-year-old Akayed Ullah, described as an immigrant from Bangladesh who lives in Brooklyn. The blast, which occurred in the area of the Port Authority Bus Terminal, at 42nd Street and 8th Avenue, resulted in serious injuries to the suspect and minor injuries to at least three others, authorities said during a morning news conference.
Ullah sustained burns and lacerations to his hands and abdomen, authorities said. Police said he was taken to Bellevue Hospital for treatment and then taken into custody.
Police said that three other people also suffered minor injuries caused by their proximity to the explosion, including ringing in the ears and headaches, and that they took themselves to a hospital.
“When we hear of an attack in the subways, it’s incredibly unsettling,” New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio told reporters. “And let’s also be clear, this was an attempted terrorist attack. Thank God the perpetrator did not achieve his ultimate goals.”
The NYPD is investigating the explosion as a possible terrorism incident, according to law enforcement officials.
John Miller, NYPD deputy commissioner for counterterrorism and intelligence, said during a news conference that the pipe bomb was “affixed to his person with a combination of Velcro and zip ties.”
Miller said that investigators are collecting the pieces of the device to determine its composition. Investigators are also trying to determine whether it might have detonated prematurely or only partially.
The blast took place in an underground passageway at the Port Authority subway station, at 42nd Street between 7th and 8th avenues, authorities said. The suspect was walking eastbound in the passageway at the time, during what would have been peak morning commute hours.
New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, D, who described the bomb as “an effectively low-tech device,” said he was grateful that the only injuries to victims were minor.
“The first news this morning was obviously very frightening and disturbing,” Cuomo told reporters. “When you hear about a bomb in the subway station, it is in many ways one of our worst nightmares. The reality turns out to be better than the initial expectation and fear.”
Authorities say the suspect made statements after the explosion that led law enforcement officials to believe he was inspired by overseas terror groups, possibly the Islamic State. Asked about those statements at a news conference, the New York police commissioner declined to describe them, saying they were a focus of the investigation.
While there were no immediate claims of responsibility for the explosion, a pro-Islamic State media group suggested that it was carried out in response to President Donald Trump’s recent statement recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
“No group has claimed responsibility for #NewYork #portauthorityexplosion as of yet,” terrorism analyst Rita Katz tweeted Monday, only hours after the incident.
The SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors extremist activity, said the Maqdisi Media group put a poster on its Telegram channel Monday that suggested a link between Monday’s bombing and the Trump administration’s recognition last week of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
Katz - director of the U.S.-based SITE Intelligence Group, which tracks terrorists’ online communications - added: “Pro-#ISIS channels cheering the attack.”
On MSNBC, former NYPD commissioner Bill Bratton said the suspect “was supposedly setting the device off in the name of ISIS,” according to preliminary information from his police sources. ISIS is another name for the Islamic State, an extremist group that has urged its followers to wage attacks around the world.
“So, definitely a terrorist attack. Definitely intended,” Bratton told the news network. “As to whether the device malfunctioned or didn’t function correctly, that will have to be determined.”
New Yorkers should expect to see increased police presence at all transportation hubs around the city immediately, he said.
Bratton, who served two terms as the NYPD commissioner (one in the mid-1990s and the other from 2014 to 2016), said law enforcement officials for years have anticipated additional and more frequent attacks. A September 2016 bombing that injured 29 people in the Chelsea neighborhood in Manhattan took place on Bratton’s last day of his second term.
“The pace is quickening, as we have been indicating that it would,” he told MSNBC. “New York continues to remain the focus of interest. . . . That is something that we can anticipate. These attacks are going to increase. That’s the reality.”
The explosion Monday came just weeks after a man driving a truck plowed through pedestrians and bicyclists on a path along the west side of Manhattan, killing eight people and wounding a dozen others. That driver, who survived, was taken into custody and told authorities he carried out the attack in the name of the Islamic State.
For New Yorkers, this was the second suspected terrorist attack in the city in the past three months.
Frank Ramirez, 42, who works only blocks from the Port Authority, said he saw the streets fill with police and ambulances before 8 a.m. and was immediately anxious.
“I just can’t believe this is happening again so soon,” he said.
Ramirez said he was near the scene of the last terrorist attack in October and saw the suspect hit a school bus. “That was scary enough. . . . if they start going after the subways, that would be bad for us.”
The Port Authority Bus Terminal, which bills itself as the world’s busiest bus terminal, is not far from Times Square, where police had several blocks closed down.
Several hours after the explosion, Sam and Patricia Sladnick sat at a nearby coffee shop planning out their return to Delaware. The retired electrician and schoolteacher had spent the weekend visiting family in Manhattan and were entering the bus terminal Monday morning when they heard an explosion and saw people start to run.
“I heard something but didn’t know what it was but then started to see people running,” Sam said. Patricia didn’t move at first and Sam said he had to turn around and pull her out. “I guess I should have stopped to help other people, make sure they got out okay, but I didn’t know whether there was going to be another explosion or what, so we left,” he added.
Patricia said she froze when she saw the police start to run.
“When I saw them running around like that I knew it was serious,” she said.
Details on how the suspect was apprehended were not immediately available, but the Port Authority Police Benevolent Association, a union representing Port Authority police officers, said on Twitter that the department’s officers took down the suspect at gunpoint.
NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill said during the news conference the attempted attack was captured on transit system surveillance video, which investigators were studying. He did not answer questions about the suspect’s background, citing the ongoing investigation.
By Monday afternoon, a New York Police Department “Bomb Squad” van, four police cars and an ambulance sat outside a Brooklyn apartment building where at least one member of Ullah’s family is thought to live.
Across the street was Iskandar Voseev, 16, who said he has lived in a neighboring building here in Kensington with his family for eight years.
“This place is a really peaceful place, you know?” the teenager said, watching the commotion. “It’s really messed up what happened. I’m scared.”
Voseez said mostly immigrants from Uzbekistan and Yemen live on his block. He is worried people will blame all Muslims for the actions of someone with roots in his community.
“In one tree, if an apple is bad, it doesn’t mean all the apples are bad,” he said.
President Trump was briefed on the incident Monday, according to the White House.