UPDATE, Sept. 19., 11:19 a.m. ET:
Ahmad Khan Rahami, 28, the man wanted in connection with an explosion that detonated on Saturday in Manhattan and another nearby device that did not detonate, was arrested in New Jersey on Monday after a reported shootout.
Linden NJ Active Shooter 500 East Elizabeth Ave 1 perp in custody they just found a suspicious package req Bomb Sq pic.twitter.com/jFkesoSgf8
— Ben Reifer (@BenReifer) September 19, 2016
Ahmad Rahami, the person of interest in New York bombing, has been taken into custody after a shoot out. pic.twitter.com/N8ks2IaZuQ
— Mashable News (@MashableNews) September 19, 2016
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An emergency alert has been sent to all phones in New York, warning residents to be on the look out for a man wanted for questioning in connection to the explosion in Chelsea this weekend.
The alerts, which are geographically targeted, warned New Yorkers that Ahmad Khan Rahami, 28, is wanted by officials. It follows multiple incidents, including two explosions, across New York and New Jersey during the weekend.
SEE ALSO:Why pressure cookers make such deadly explosive devicesAuthorities note Rahami is wanted for questioning regarding an explosion in the New York neighborhood of Chelsea on Saturday night that injured 29 people.
The region has been on alert since the Chelsea explosion, which has been attributed by authorities to a bomb. Following the blast, another device was discovered just blocks away that had components of an improvised exploding device and reportedly was made from a pressure cooker.
Then on Sunday evening, a second explosion occurred in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Mayor Chris Bollwage said an object, reported to be backpack, contained five devices, which had exploded when a bomb robot was examining it. Following this, authorities have been closing in on people they believe are connected to the incidents. They have not confirmed the explosions and devices are connected.
If commuters weren't already on edge today, this alert which just rang through the entire train got us there. pic.twitter.com/RHAvTw0mlh
— Lance Ulanoff (@LanceUlanoff) September 19, 2016
In the alert sent Monday, residents have been told that if they see the wanted man to contact 911. Rahami recently lived in Elizabeth, New Jersey and is of Afghan descent. He has brown hair, brown eyes, is 5-foot, 6-inches tall and weighs approximately 200 pounds, according to the FBI.
Seen him? https://t.co/IvaT8sZs5n Seeking to find Ahmad Rahami Call 1800Call-FBI or https://t.co/vylOlg95dq pic.twitter.com/Xd2SXytZmD
— FBI New York (@NewYorkFBI) September 19, 2016
The Wireless Emergency Alert service by the Federal Communications Commission sends alert messages to mobile phones in a geographic area. It allows different government agencies such as the FBI, National Weather Service and Department of Homeland Security to send urgent notifications to residents of a region.
The WEA service has previously been used in severe weather events such as Cyclone Sandy and the 2015 New York blizzard.
"It has to be an event that's extreme, severe, immediate or imminent," Ben Krakauer, director of watch command at New York City Emergency Management, told Mashablein 2015. "We want to use WEAs very sparingly."
The alerts are still not common occurrences and many New Yorkers expressed their shock at receiving them along with every other passenger on their Monday morning commute. According to Tony Aiello from CBS News, this is the first time the WEA system has been used for a terror investigation.
On Monday afternoon, New York's mayor, Bill de Blasio, said he believes the alert tool is very valuable and helped in securing the arrest of the suspect.
"We think it created a lot of focus and urgency ... from what we know right now it definitely contributed to the successful apprehension of this suspect," de Blasio said at a press conference. "This is a tool we will use again in the future. In similar situations. There obviously was an imminent threat and a very appropriate situation in which to use it."
He said it is an indication of the advancement of technology in the police force and that it engaged the public in the right way.
"No more wanted poster on the precinct house wall. This is a modern approach that really engaged the whole community," he said. "So, yes, we will use it, and the reason used in this case was the specific potential danger and it made sense to do a very broad alert."
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