New York City police chief James O'Neill Tuesday morning revealed that a number of clues led to the arrest of the suspect who has been held for carrying out weekend bomb attacks in New York and New Jersey. The police chief also confirmed that Ahmad Khan Rahami is in critical, but stable condition.
"Critical, but stable," O'Neill told CBS News when asked if Rahami would survive after being shot multiple times and undergoing surgery.
O'Neil lauded the efforts of the police and investigation team who caught Rahami just four hours after the FBI released his mugshot and sent out text message alerts to millions of people.
Rahami, who has been charged on five counts of attempted murder of a law enforcement officer and two unlawful weapons counts, left behind a number of forensic evidences that led to his arrest within 50 hours after the first explosion, the top cop said.
Law enforcement officials who have been carrying out the investigation said his fingerprints and DNA were found at the scene of the Manhattan bombing and Rahami's uncovered face was clearly captured by surveillance cameras near the spot of the blast, the officials reported.
These and other clues led officials to publicize his name and image Monday morning, asking for help finding 28-year-old Rahami, who is an Afghan-born U.S. citizen.
As the investigation heated up, a bar owner in New Jersey's Linden, reported someone sleeping at his doorway. When an officer went to investigate and identified the man as Rahami, the suspect took out a gun and shot the officer, who was wearing a bulletproof vest.
More officers joined in as the gun battle continued on the street. Another police officer was hit by a bullet during the fight.
"A lot of technology involved in this, but a lot of good, old-fashioned police work, too," O'Neill said, adding, "Investigators will ensure that they get to the bottom of who's involved and why."
Officials also said they were still investigating to find out whether more people were involved.
When asked about the biggest worry at the moment, O'Neill said the need of the hour was to get to the bottom of the investigation to find out whether he acted alone.
"I think it's a good sign that we found him in a doorway. That he was found in a doorway, hopefully, that means he has nowhere to go. That's a pretty good sign. But as we move forward with this investigation, our job is to keep the people of this city safe. It's important to find out what his motivation was," he added.
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