Seaside Park Bomber Gets 2nd Life Term In Police Shootout

ELIZABETH, NJ — The man convicted of setting off bombs in Seaside Park and New York City in 2016 has been sentenced to another life term — this time in state prison, for attempting to kill five Linden police officers who tried to arrest him, the Union County prosecutor's office said Friday.

Ahmad Khan Rahami, 31, aka Ahmad Khan Rahimi, of Elizabeth, was sentenced to life by Superior Court Judge John M. Deitch in Elizabeth on Friday.

The sentence comes after a jury found Rahami guilty of five counts of attempted murder, one for each of the officers, as well as aggravated assault and weapons offenses, in October 2019, acting Union County Prosecutor Lyndsay V. Ruotolo said.

Rahami shot at the police officers encountered Rahami in Linden after he set off pipe bombs near a Marine Corps 5K in Seaside Park in September 2016 then followed that by planting pressure cooker bombs in Chelsea that same weekend.

Rahami was arrested when police officers encountered him in Linden shortly before 10:30 a.m. on Sept. 19, 2016. The owner of Merdie’s Tavern, on East Elizabeth Avenue in Linden, called police to report an unknown male later identified as Rahami was sleeping in the vestibule outside the bar’s front door, said Assistant Prosecutors Albert J. Cernadas, Jr., Meghan Tomlinson, and Milton Leibowitz.

Linden police arrived and recognized him as the subject of a BOLO (Be On the Look Out) advisory issued by federal authorities in connection with the bombings earlier that same morning. The officers radioed for backup and approached Rahami, who pulled out a 9mm handgun and shot the officer in his chest, striking him in his protective vest, authorities said.

Additional officers responded and engaged Rahami, who kept shooting at the officers as he fled. Authorities kept firing until Rahami was stopped outside of an auto repair shop on East Elizabeth Avenue, several blocks west of where he was initially approached.

Rahami’s handgun was recovered at the scene, and he was immediately transported to a local hospital for emergency treatment, as were the first responding officer and another Linden police officer who was struck in the head by a fragment of a bullet fired through his vehicle’s windshield by Rahami.

"This defendant tried to murder members of our law enforcement community, and the sentence imposed by the court today holds him accountable for his violent acts," Ruotolo said. "This case stands as a testament to the bravery of Investigators Hammer and Kahana, Officers Padilla, Diaz, and Guzman, and the many other Linden police officers who risked their lives for the safety of others. Their conduct that day is an example of the selflessness shown by officers throughout Union County each and every day."

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