​Ahmad Rahami's N.J. Father Told Cops Son Was 'Terrorist' 2 Years Before Bombings

Ahmad Khan Rahami's father told law enforcement authorities that his son was a "terrorist" two years before the 28-year-old man allegedly went on a bombing rampage in New Jersey and New York this week, according to reports, Patch has confirmed.

The father made the statement after Rahami was arrested following a domestic dispute, when he was accused of stabbing his brother. The information was passed to the Joint Terrorism Task Force led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Newark, according to law enforcement sources.

An official quoted by The New York Times said the father made the comment out of anger at his son. But on Tuesday morning, outside the family’s restaurant in Elizabeth, the father, Mohammad Rahami, told The Times and other reporters, “I called the FBI two years ago."

After that, he seemed to change his statements again, which was also captured on video:

Law enforcement sources told Patch that his father made his remarks in 2014 after his son made a trip to Afghanistan and Pakistan, when Rahami tried to get a visa for his wife - a Pakistani woman whom he had married in 2011. These sources say she was pregnant at the time and that he was told she could not enter the United States until after the baby was born, which is what happened.

Separately, a "journal" belonging to Rahami has been recovered by authorities, and it was with the terror suspect when he allegedly engaged in a shootout in Linden, New Jersey, before his capture, according to ABC News and The New York Times.

The book, which was pierced by a bullet hole and covered in blood, includes Rahami speaking of “killing the kuffar,” or unbeliever, according to the reports.

Rahami, a 28-year-old naturalized United States citizen who is suspected to be involved in the weekend bombings in Seaside Park, New Jersey, and the Manhattan neighborhood of Chelsea, was caught Monday, according to authorities.

Read more: NJ Man Was Funny, Mysterious Student Who Became Captured Terror Suspect, Reports Say

Rahami has been charged with five counts of attempted murder of a law enforcement officer, according to the Union County Prosecutor's office. His bail was set at $5.2 million.

Rahami was taken into custody by police in Linden after he was wounded in a shootout that left two city officers injured, according to Union County officials. He was being treated at University Hospital in Newark on Tuesday.

Rahami was captured late Monday morning after police received a tip from an eyewitness who saw a person sleeping in a doorway at a bar, where the suspect apparently sought shelter from the rain, according to Linden Police Capt. James Sarnicki.

The eyewitness called the police. As police approached the vehicle, the man opened fire on police.

Sarnicki said an officer, acting after getting a tip, approached the man and ordered the suspect to show his hands. The suspect pulled a handgun and fired, striking the officer — who had was wearing a bulletproof vest — in the abdomen area. Another bullet grazed an officer in the head.

One officer returned fire as the suspect began to flee, and then the suspect fired his weapon randomly at passing vehicles, police said.

Multiple officers responded to the scene, and Rahami was shot more than once, Sarnicki said. The suspect was conscious and awake at the scene, according to Sarnicki.

Later Monday, police told The Times they also suspected he was involved in the planting of bombs near the Elizabeth train station earlier in the day, just a few miles away from where he was arrested.

Rahami was a somewhat quiet, sometimes funny but often mysterious man whose well-dressed ways were apparent in his yearbook photo, friends say, which was shared by people who knew him on social media.

Ahmad Rahami, Edison HS Class of 2007...pic.twitter.com/ZyRErHP2bc — Kurt Siegelin (@kurtsiegelin) September 19, 2016

Rahami was born on Jan. 23, 1988, in Afghanistan. His last known address was in Elizabeth, but he moved around a lot, friends say. Some remembered him when he was a freshman at Columbia High School in Maplewood.

He majored in criminal justice at Middlesex County College in Edison but did not graduate, according to Fox News.

Rahami’s family lives above and operates First American Fried Chicken in Elizabeth, and the family has had a sour relationship with the city ever since the restaurant stopped being a 24-hour-a-day operation, Elizabeth Mayor Chris Bollwage said.

The Times also reported that rowdy behavior at the restaurant compelled the city to pass an ordinance forcing First American to close at 10 p.m. The rowdy behavior continued, however, just as Rahami's outward personality began to change.

His friends knew Rahami as "Mad," a shorter, modified version of his name, who presided at the storefront of the chicken restaurant, according to The Times report. Friends said he gave them free food when they were short on money.

Recently, however, some friends noticed a change in his personality and religious devotion after the trip to Afghanistan, according to the report. “It’s like he was a completely different person,” an old friend, Flee Jones, told The Times. “He got serious and completely closed off.”

His last act of aberrant behavior before police caught up to him may have come early Monday.

The five possible explosive devices discovered early Monday morning in New Jersey were found in a backpack outside an Elizabeth train station, and one exploded around 12:30 a.m. while a bomb squad robot was attempting to disarm it, according to authorities.

Police apparently started to target and more actively pursue Rahami two days earlier, when a pipe bomb exploded in a trash can at a charity 5K run for armed services veterans in Seaside Park. The Chelsea explosion happened later that day.

The race was cancelled, and no one was injured in the Seaside Park blast. Read more: Jersey Shore Pipe Bomb Explosion in Seaside Park: Christie Cites 'Promising Leads' in Investigation.

In Elizabeth, Bollwage, the mayor, said at a press conference that two men called police after seeing "wires and a pipe" near an SUV around 9:30 p.m. Sunday.

The two men were walking near Julian Place and North Broad Street, and under the arch near the train station, when they saw the suspicious item, Bollwage said in a video tape of the press conference.

The police thought it could be a bomb and called the Union County Bomb squad to examine it. The bomb squad then sent in a drone that determined "it could be suspicious and could be a live bomb," he said.

New Jersey Transit said service was suspended between Newark Liberty Airport and Elizabeth. New Jersey-bound Amtrak trains were also being held up at New York Penn Station, according to authorities. Train service was back up by 7 a.m.

Also Monday morning, police investigated a suspicious package at a parking deck at Rutgers on Monday. The package was deemed safe. Read more: Police Respond To Suspicious Package At Rutgers Parking Deck.

President Obama, meanwhile, praised New Jersey and New York authorities for their work in capturing the suspect.

"We’ve seen what was apparently a pipe bomb go off in New Jersey, in Seaside Park, where it could have seriously injured our U.S. Marines and spectators who were there for a race. The bombing in the Chelsea neighborhood, here in New York, injured more than two dozen people. We are extremely fortunate and grateful that nobody was killed. And our prayers go out to all those who have been injured. We want to wish them a speedy recovery.

"I especially want to commend all the outstanding police and first responders in both New York City and New Jersey for their extraordinary professionalism and their quick response, which surely prevented even more people from being hurt, and ensured that people got assistance quickly."

Story by Tom Davis and Colin Miner

Photo: Union County Prosecutor's Office