Law enforcement also combed an area around the train station in Elizabeth, where a backpack with “multiple improvised explosive devices” was found.
Bollwage, the mayor, said that up to five devices were discovered inside a backpack, and one of the devices — found around 8:30 p.m. Sunday — exploded as it was being disarmed, shortly after 12:30 a.m. Monday. The New Jersey Transit rail system halted rail service near Newark Airport due to the police activity. Regular service was restored before dawn.
The mayor said Monday that two homeless men found the explosives. Thinking there would be something valuable in the backpack, they opened it — but found what appeared to be explosive devices and reported it to the police.
They were “on the side of the angels,” Bollwage said, noting that the men didn’t get blown up when they touched the bag. If the bombs had exploded hours later, during rush hour, “hundreds of people would have been killed and injured,” the mayor said.
Each of the weekend incidents — the discovery of the devices in Elizabeth, the bombing that injured 29 in Chelsea, an explosion along the route of a scheduled race in Seaside Park, N.J., and a stabbing that wounded nine in a St. Cloud, Minn., mall — raised the possibility of terrorist connections, prompting federal and local law enforcement to pour major resources into determining exactly what happened and why.
A news agency linked to the Islamic State claimed Sunday that the suspect in Minnesota, who was fatally shot by an off-duty police officer, was “a soldier” of the militant group, though there was no confirmation of what connection the man may have had.
A claim of responsibility is no guarantee that the terrorist group directed or even inspired the attack, and authorities said they were still exploring a precise motive. The terrorist group made no similar claims about the New York and New Jersey incidents.
In New York, authorities said there was no evidence that the mysterious Saturday-night explosion was motivated by international terrorism, though they confirmed that the bombing was intentional. “This is the nightmare scenario,” Cuomo (D) said.
Earlier Sunday, New York’s governor said nearly 1,000 police officers and National Guard troops would be sent to bus stops, train stations and airports, as investigators with the New York Police Department, the FBI, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives worked to identify the person or people responsible for the explosion.
One law enforcement official said that while it was looking like the New Jersey and New York blasts “might be connected,” investigators still didn’t have any hard evidence. The official also said that only one of the three pipe bombs in New Jersey detonated.
Those injured in the Saturday-night blast in Chelsea had been released from hospitals by Sunday.
The Manhattan explosion occurred about 8:30 p.m. Saturday in the area of West 23rd Street between Sixth and Seventh avenues, injuring 29 people as it hurled glass and debris into the air, officials said. Surveillance video showed passersby running to get away from the blast, and investigators said they would comb through that and older footage to try to identify those responsible.
Authorities said the explosion was produced by some type of bomb, and they posted on Twitter a photo of what appeared to be a mangled Dumpster or garbage container. Masum Chaudry, who manages a Domino’s Pizza near the scene, said the explosion “shook the whole building” and caused “total chaos.”
Cuomo said, “When you see the amount of damage, we really were very lucky there were no fatalities.”
A short time after the explosion, just a few blocks away, police found another potentially explosive device, which looked like a pressure cooker with wiring, according to a law enforcement official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing investigation. Pressure cookers were used in the two bombs detonated at the Boston Marathon in 2013.
The New York police said that this pressure-cooker-type device was first rendered safe at a Bronx facility. This device and materials from Seaside, N.J., were sent to the FBI’s lab in Quantico, Va., where they and the remnants of the device that exploded will be analyzed, authorities said.
Officials differed on whether to call the Saturday night explosion an act of terrorism. Cuomo said: “It depends on your definition of terrorism. A bomb exploding in New York is obviously an act of terrorism, but it’s not linked to international terrorism.” Over the weekend, city, police and FBI officials said it was too early to determine any type of motivation, though they insisted they would not shy from labeling the crime an act of terror if it became appropriate to do so.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said officials will not jump to conclusions or offer "easy answers" in relation to a deliberate explosion in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood that injured nearly 30 people. (Reuters)
The incidents came as foreign leaders, including many heads of state, were heading to Manhattan for the United Nations General Assembly. Secretary of State John F. Kerry arrived Saturday, while President Obama arrived in the city Monday.
The annual U.N. meeting — held more than two miles from the site of the explosion in Chelsea — is traditionally a challenging time for New York, as many roads are shut down and the heavy security leads to traffic jams. Officials said they had already prepared to beef up security, and now they would intensify those efforts.
Speaking in New York, Obama said there was no known connection between the stabbings in Minnesota and the incidents in New York and New Jersey. But the attacks only reinforced his resolve to continue fighting the Islamic State, both on the ground and online, he said.
“We will continue to lead the global coalition in the fight to destroy ISIL, which is instigating a lot of people over the Internet to carry out attacks,” Obama said. “We’re going to continue to enlist tech companies and community and religious leaders to push back against online extremist content and all messages of hate.”
The president also emphasized the need to be vigilant but cautioned citizens against giving in to fear.
“At moments like this, I think it’s important to remember what terrorists and violent extremists are trying to do: They are trying to hurt innocent people, but they also want to inspire fear in all of us and to disrupt the way we live and to undermine our values,” he said. “We all have a role to play as citizens in making sure we don’t succumb to that fear. There’s no better example of that than the people of New York and New Jersey.”
President Obama sought to reassure the public Sept. 19, after a series of explosives were planted in New York and New Jersey over the weekend. (The Washington Post)
On the campaign trail, the Democratic and Republican presidential candidates offered varied reactions to news of the incidents.
“I think this is something that will maybe get — will happen perhaps more and more all over the country,” Donald Trump told “Fox and Friends.” “It’s a mess and it’s a shame, and we’re going to have to be very tough.”
Trump also said he agreed with early reports of a possible foreign connection to the bombings, and argued that the stricter immigration policies he has proposed would better protect the U.S. from terror.
Speaking in White Plains, N.Y., Clinton told reporters that the United States should launch an “intelligence surge” to identify and thwart attacks before they are carried out.
“This threat is real, but so is our resolve,” she said. “Americans will not cower. We will prevail. We will defend our country. A lot of the rhetoric from Donald Trump has been seized on by terrorists, particularly ISIS. They want to use that to recruit more fighters to their cause by turning it into a religious conflict. That’s why I’ve been very clear. We’re going after the bad guys and we’re going to get them, but we’re not going after an entire religion.”
The Chelsea explosion occurred about 11 hours after a pipe bomb exploded in a Jersey Shore garbage can, shortly before a scheduled charity 5K race to benefit Marines and Navy sailors. No one was hurt.
Officials said that device, too, would be sent to the FBI lab in Quantico, though Cuomo noted the pipe bombs used in New Jersey “appear to be different” than those in New York.
Two law enforcement officials said residue of tannerite — used primarily for making exploding targets for firearms practice — was found in material that had detonated in New York. The explosive material found in New Jersey was a black powder. The two officials said a cellphone was used to detonate the explosives in both New York and Seaside Park, N.J. Bollwage said there was no cell phone with the devices in Elizabeth.
Zapotosky, Wang and Berman reported from Washington. Philip Bump in New York and Brian Murphy, Kristine Guerra, Sari Horwitz, Sean Sullivan, Steven Overly, John Wagner, Julie Tate, Derek Hawkins and Cleve R. Wootson Jr. contributed to this report, which has been updated since it was first published on Sunday night.
(The Washington Post)