UPDATE – (CNN) — Ahmad Khan Rahami, the man suspected in bombings in New York and New Jersey, is now in custody after a shootout with police, sources said.
(CNN) — The investigation into the weekend attacks in the US is moving fast. Officials have been sifting through evidence retrieved from the scenes of the blasts in New York and New Jersey, a stabbing spree in Minnesota, and a backpack loaded with explosive devices discovered in Elizabeth, N.J.
Security has been stepped up as members of the United Nations General Assembly gather in New York for a summit Monday.
It’s still unclear who is behind the weekend’s attacks and whether they’re related.
But as authorities investigate signs of a possible terror cell in New York and New Jersey, we round up what we know and don’t know.
NEW YORK BLAST AND PRESSURE COOKER DEVICE
What we know: Twenty-nine people were injured when an explosion went off in the Chelsea neighborhoood of New York at around 8:30 p.m. on Saturday. All of those admitted to hospitals had been released.
Shortly after the blast a few blocks away, investigators found a pressure cooker with dark-colored wiring connected by silver duct tape to what appeared to be a cellphone, officials said.
Surveillance footage shows the same man near the explosion, and where the pressure cooker was found.
On Monday police in New York said they’re looking for 28-year-old Ahmad Khan Rahami in connection with the Chelsea bombing.
The FBI described Rahami as a U.S. citizen of Afghan descent with a last known address in Elizabeth, New Jersey — the same city where an explosives-laden backback was found Sunday night.
Rahami is about 5 ft 6 ins tall and weighs about 200 pounds. Rahami has brown hair, brown eyes and brown facial hair.
What we don’t know: Despite some similarities between the explosions in New York and New Jersey over the weekend, authorities haven’t concluded if they’re connected.
There have been no confirmed sightings of Rahmani, and little is known about him beyond the description issued by the FBI.
MINNESOTA MALL STABBING
What we know: ISIS said that a man who stabbed nine people at a Minnesota mall on Saturday evening was a “solider of the Islamic state”, according to the ISIS-linked news agency Amaq.
The attacker has been named as 22-year-old Dahir A. Adan, according to two Somali community leaders who are in direct contact with his family.
He wore a private security company uniform, made a reference to Allah and asked at least one person if they were Muslim before he attacked, according to police and witnesses.
The stabbings at Crossroads Mall in St. Cloud happened in several stores, and off-duty police officer Jason Falconer has been hailed a “hero” after shooting dead the attacker who lunged at him with a knife.
What we don’t know: CNN cannot independently confirm that ISIS was behind the attack.
NEW JERSEY CHARITY RUN EXPLOSION
What we know: An explosion in a garbage can near a Marine Corps charity run in New Jersey on Saturday is being investigated as a possible terrorist act.
New Jersey State police want to question Ahmad Khan Rahmani — the same man wanted in connection with Saturday’s bombing in New York — in connection with the explosion.
Three pipe-bomb-type devices wired together were found near the boardwalk at the Seaside Park event, said officials, adding that the devices were rudimentary and only one of them detonated.
No one was injured in the blast — most likely because registration problems delayed the start of the race, so no one was near the garbage can when the explosion happened.
What we don’t know: Whether it’s part of a weekend of co-ordinated attacks.
Investigators said they found similarities between this device and the bomb that exploded in New York’s Chelsea neighborhood Saturday evening, but have not linked the two events at this time.
ELIZABETH BACKPACK LOADED WITH DEVICES
What we know: A backpack containing up to five explosive devices was found in a wastebasket in Elizabeth, New Jersey, around 9.30 p.m. on Sunday.
The backpack was found outside a neighborhood pub and located about 500 feet from a train trestle, said the city’s mayor Chris Bollwage.
Officers sent in a robot to examine the devices, causing one of them to explode.
The remaining four devices will be transferred to the FBI laboratory at Quantico, Virginia, said Bollwage.
What we don’t know: What exactly were these devices and who’s behind them? “I don’t know what they’re made up of,” said Bollwage of the package.
There’s also no indication that the latest incident in Elizabeth is connected to the blasts in New York and New Jersey over the weekend.
