Times Square bomber scouted location days before blast bid
Source: Agencies |
May 7, 2010, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
DAYS before the failed car bomb in Times Square, a Pakistani-American scouted the bustling district in the same vehicle and then, on a second trip, left a getaway car blocks from his chosen target, a law enforcement official said.
Faisal Shahzad, now in custody on terrorism and weapons charges, drove a 1993 Nissan Pathfinder to Times Square from Connecticut on April 28, apparently to figure out where would be the best place to leave it later, the official said.
He returned last Friday to drop off a black Isuzu, according to the official.
The official said Shahzad went back last Saturday and left the sport utility vehicle loaded with firecrackers, gasoline and propane, enough to create a fireball and kill nearby tourists and Broadway theatergoers had it gone off.
In leaving Times Square on Saturday, he discovered he left a chain of 20 keys including those to the getaway car and his home in Connecticut in the SUV, and had to take public transport, the official said.
Investigators had already started searching for suspects when he returned to the scene on Sunday with a second set of keys to pick up the Isuzu, parked about eight blocks from the car bomb site, the official said.
Shahzad, 30, of Connecticut, admitted to rigging the Pathfinder with a crude bomb based on explosives training he received in Pakistan, authorities say. He was pulled off a Dubai-bound plane on Monday and has been cooperating with investigators. No court appearance has yet been scheduled for Shahzad, a spokeswoman for the US attorney's office said.
Kifyat Ali, a cousin of Shahzad's father, has called the arrest "a conspiracy."
Shahzad is believed to have been working alone when he began preparing the Times Square attack, almost immediately after returning in February from his native land, authorities said. They said they have yet to find a wider link to extremist groups or to pin down a motive.
"It appears from some of his other activities that March is when he decided to put this plan in motion," New York Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said.
Pakistan Ambassador Husain Haqqani said an investigation into Shahzad's links to Pakistan was ongoing and an unspecified number of people had been questioned.
Faisal Shahzad, now in custody on terrorism and weapons charges, drove a 1993 Nissan Pathfinder to Times Square from Connecticut on April 28, apparently to figure out where would be the best place to leave it later, the official said.
He returned last Friday to drop off a black Isuzu, according to the official.
The official said Shahzad went back last Saturday and left the sport utility vehicle loaded with firecrackers, gasoline and propane, enough to create a fireball and kill nearby tourists and Broadway theatergoers had it gone off.
In leaving Times Square on Saturday, he discovered he left a chain of 20 keys including those to the getaway car and his home in Connecticut in the SUV, and had to take public transport, the official said.
Investigators had already started searching for suspects when he returned to the scene on Sunday with a second set of keys to pick up the Isuzu, parked about eight blocks from the car bomb site, the official said.
Shahzad, 30, of Connecticut, admitted to rigging the Pathfinder with a crude bomb based on explosives training he received in Pakistan, authorities say. He was pulled off a Dubai-bound plane on Monday and has been cooperating with investigators. No court appearance has yet been scheduled for Shahzad, a spokeswoman for the US attorney's office said.
Kifyat Ali, a cousin of Shahzad's father, has called the arrest "a conspiracy."
Shahzad is believed to have been working alone when he began preparing the Times Square attack, almost immediately after returning in February from his native land, authorities said. They said they have yet to find a wider link to extremist groups or to pin down a motive.
"It appears from some of his other activities that March is when he decided to put this plan in motion," New York Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said.
Pakistan Ambassador Husain Haqqani said an investigation into Shahzad's links to Pakistan was ongoing and an unspecified number of people had been questioned.
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