Seaside Park Bomber Gets Multiple Life Terms In Terror Attacks

ELIZABETH, NJ — The New Jersey man who set off a pipe bomb during a Marine Corps charity run in Seaside Park and later injured 30 people with a bomb in Manhattan was sentenced to multiple life terms in prison on Tuesday, the Associated Press reported.

Ahmad Khan Rahimi will spend the rest of his life in federal prison after detonating the bombs in September 2016.

In October, a grand jury found Rahimi guilty of eight counts related to the terrorist act. Rahimi was facing a mandatory sentence of life in prison after the guilty verdict.

The 29-year-old, who investigators said was inspired by ISIS and al Qaeda, planted pipe bombs in a trash can along the planned route of the Semper V charity 5K race in Seaside Park on Sept. 17, 2016. Though the bomb exploded, no one was injured due to delays in the start of the race that morning. The bomb had been timed to go off at a point where runners and spectators were expected to be in the vicinity.

Two pressure cooker bombs in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan that detonated later that night also were tied to Rahimi, who was born in Afghanistan but was a naturalized U.S. citizen. The first bomb, planted in a dumpster on 23rd Street between Sixth and Seventh avenues, detonated at about 8:30 p.m., causing injuries to more than 30 people. No one was killed in the explosion. A pedestrian found a second bomb that Rahimi had planted on 27th Street, which did not detonate.

Rahimi also was linked to five explosive devices found near the Elizabeth train station. Rahimi was arrested in Linden after a 50-hour manhunt ended in a shootout. He was shot several times by police but was not killed.

Ahmad Khan Rahimi is led into court in Elizabeth in this Dec. 20, 2016 photo Photo by Mel Evans/Associated Press