The shootout happened in Linden, New Jersey, hours after authorities announced the 28-year-old Afghan immigrant was suspected in the weekend bombings that injured 29 people.
A witness spotted a man sleeping in a doorway of a local bar and called the police at 10:30 a.m. ET, Captain James Sarnicki of the Linden Police Department told MSNBC's "Andrea Mitchell Reports." An officer approached the man and tried to wake him, Sarnicki said.
As the sleeping man woke up and lifted his head, Sarnicki said the officer realized he resembled the bombings suspect and ordered the man to show his hands. The suspect fired at the officer, hitting him in the abdomen, the Linden police captain said. Fortunately, the officer that was shot was wearing a bulletproof vest and did not sustain life-threatening injuries, Sarnicki said.
Suspect Ahmad Rahami shot in Linden, NJ and in police custody is taken to hospital on Sept. 19, 2016.
The officer returned fire as the suspect got up, the police captain told MSNBC. Sarnicki also said that, from monitoring radio transmissions, it appeared the suspect was "indiscriminately firing his weapon at passing vehicles." Another officer was hit by glass shrapnel, NBC News reported. Sarnicki said Rahami was shot more than once and was taken to a hospital.
On Saturday, a bomb exploded in the New Jersey shore town on Seaside Park, forcing the cancellation of a large charity race. Later that day, a bombing in New York's Chelsea neighborhood injured 29 people. Officers found a possible secondary device nearby. On Sunday, five additional explosive devices were found near a train station in Elizabeth, New Jersey.
Rahami was identified as a suspect on Monday morning after authorities found a fingerprint on a device that did not detonate, according to investigators.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said Monday the weekend bombing in Chelsea was an act of terror, but the FBI said that there is no reason to believe a terror cell "is operating here." Authorities are not looking for other individuals at this point in time, de Blasio said.
NBC News also reported that U.S. Intelligence does not have any information indicating connections between the suspect's family and known terrorist groups or individuals.
Two senior officials have now confirmed to NBC News that Ahmad Khan Rahami was not on a U.S. terrorist watchlist or an NYPD list. There is more than one watch list that federal and state governments use to track both foreigners of interest as well as citizens of interest.
One of the sources, a former senior intelligence official with the NYPD, said that the NYPD intelligence bureau does have its own list of individuals called the "persons of interest" list.
"This list is compiled, changed and updated based on ongoing active cases," he said.
Suspect Ahmad Rahami shot in Linden, NJ and in police custody is treated for gunshot wounds on Sept. 19, 2016.
Ed Murray | NJ Advance Media
Suspect Ahmad Rahami shot in Linden, NJ and in police custody is treated for gunshot wounds on Sept. 19, 2016.
The source told NBC: "The amount of surveillance dedicated for each individual is determined by the level of threat assessed by the top brass & conferral with the FBI. It is common for members of NYPD, Intelligence Bureau to assist the FBI in large scale surveillance operations where they need a lot of manpower...."
However, "the NYPD did not have this guy on the radar" prior to Saturday night.
NBC's second source, with U.S. intelligence, confirmed all of the information above and says that the information and names on the NYPD list is shared with counterparts with the State of New Jersey.
Source: cnbc
