Akayed Ullah, a 27-year-old man, reportedly detonated a pipe bomb in the subway near Times Square Monday morning, NYPD said, causing minor injuries and disrupting multiple trains.
Ullah is currently at Bellevue Hospital on Manhattan’s East Side. He sustained burns and wounds to his body from the bomb which was strapped to him, as is consistent with a suicide bomber, officials said. NYPD have called the incident a terror attack.
Ullah is a Bangladeshi national who was inspired by the Islamic State, law officials told the Associated Press.
When asked if he is connected to ISIS, NYPD Commissioner James P. O’Neill said, “He did make statements” on the way to the hospital, but O’Neill did not elaborate about those comments.
Police are investigating Ullah’s Brooklyn apartment Monday morning. Ullah came to the United States about seven years ago, a U.S. official told The Daily Beast.
There are few details known at this moment of Ullah’s background. The New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission confirmed that a man named Akayed Ullah was previously licensed with the TLC.
Ullah used to hold a “For-Hire Vehicle” license, which covers black cars and livery cars. Ullah held that license, which has since lapsed, from March 2012 to March 2015. He did not hold a license to work as a taxi driver, a TLC spokesperson said.
The bomb was an “improvised low-tech device,” officials said. Ullah reportedly told police that he made the device at the electrical company where he works, according to the New York Post.
JUST IN: The suspected Port Authority bomber has been identified as 27-year-old Akayed Ullah, an ISIS-inspired Brooklyn man https://t.co/sI8z5juTQO pic.twitter.com/hZxcDfYeP2
— New York Post (@nypost) December 11, 2017
Officials reported four injuries in total from the explosion, including Ullah. All of those injuries are not life threatening, FDNY said. Officials believe Ullah’s pipe bomb detonated earlier than initially planned. The explosion occurred in the 42nd Street pedestrian tunnel between Port Authority and Times Square around 7:20 a.m.
Ullah is believed to have carried out this attack on his own. Though he was reportedly inspired by ISIS, he did not have contact with the terrorist organization, the AP reported. Officials said that there are currently no other known threats.
“At this point in time, all we know of is one individual who, thank God, was unsuccessful in his aims,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said at a press conference Monday morning. “There are also no credible and specific threats against New York City at this time.”
The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force is conducting a full background investigation into Ullah. Officials are asking anyone who may have information about him or the attack to call the terror hotline at 888-NYC-SAFE.
