NYC Port Authority Terror Attacker Linked To ISIS, Officials Say

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — An ISIS-inspired terrorist with a crude bomb strapped to his chest injured three people and himself and caused panic inside a busy Midtown subway station Monday morning in the latest terror attack on New York City.

The suspect, Akayed Ullah, detonated an "improvised, low-tech explosive device," similar to a pipe bomb, at 7:20 a.m. as he walked in a pedestrian tunnel underneath 42nd Street, NYPD Commissioner James O'Neill said. Ullah was heading from the Eighth Avenue subway platforms toward the Times Square station at Seventh Avenue, O'Neill said.

Ullah, 27, of Flatlands, Brooklyn, was in custody at Bellevue Hospital Monday where he's being treated for serious injuries including burns and wounds, officials said. Three other people suffered minor injuries consistent with being in the area of an explosion, FDNY commissioner Daniel Nigro said Monday.

Update: Akayed Ullah hit with terrorism charges.

From his hospital bed, Ullah told investigators he was inspired by ISIS, though officials do not believe he had any direct connection to the group, law enforcement sources said. He expressed anger over attacks on Muslims overseas, specifically recent Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, sources said.

Ullah lives in Brooklyn with a green card and came to the U.S. from Bangladesh on an immigrant visa in February 2011, law enforcement sources said. Federal authorities are investigating his travel to Bangladesh in September and another prior trip to the United Arab Emirates, sources said.

The bomb that Ullah set off had been secured to his body using velcro and zip ties, Commissioner O'Neill said at a press conference Monday morning. O'Neill could not confirm whether the device was detonated remotely or by Ullah directly. Ullah constructed the device at his home, according to a federal criminal complaint.

Ullah told investigators he set off the explosive device intentionally, angered by holiday-themed posters he saw sources said. Described as a "crude" pipe bomb, it likely malfunctioned before it detonated, the New York Times first reported.

The bomb was made by fitting match heads inside a narrow length of pipe secured at both ends, sources with information about the bomb told the Times. A broken Christmas tree light and a nine-volt battery were used to initiate the explosion, the Times reported.

One or both of the pipe's caps blew off the device when the blast was initiated, which prevented the pipe from exploding into shrapnel, the Times reported.

"This was an attempted terrorist attack. Thank God the perpetrator did not achieve his ultimate goals," Mayor Bill de Blasio said at a news conference Monday.

Heavily armed police swarmed the area outside the Port Authority Bus Terminal, one of the nation's busiest transportation hubs, during the Monday morning rush hour. Police evacuated the bus terminal and three subway lines inside as city, state and federal law enforcement officers rushed to investigate.

Christina Bethea of Yonkers was walking in a pedestrian tunnel to change subway trains when she heard a loud "boom" and saw smoke. The single explosion sounded like a gunshot, she said.

'There was a panic, everyone was running up the stairs," said Bethea, 29, who works as a security guard on 42nd Street.

Bethea, who's originally from North Carolina, called her parents and friends as soon as she got out of Port Authority to let everyone know she was safe, she said.

The blast comes less than six weeks after Sayfullo Saipov allegedly killed eight people and injured 12 in an Oct. 31 ISIS-inspired terror attack at the Hudson River Greenway. ISIS has not claimed responsibility for Monday's bombing.

There are no other current threats to New York City, de Blasio said. The NYPD and FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force is conducting a "thorough background investigation" to determine Ullah's motives and history, O'Neill said. Preliminary investigations revealed that Ullah was acting alone, de Blasio said Monday.

Authorities have searched apartments associated with Ullah in Flatlands and Kensington in Brooklyn, law enforcement sources said. Local and federal law enforcement were seen investigating at a building on Ocean Parkway near Newkirk Avenue in Kensington, according to multiple reporters.

Investigators also interviewed members of Ullah's family, including his mother and brother, though it's uncertain what they said, law enforcement sources said.

Ullah will likely be charged in federal court in Manhattan, sources said.

Ullah came to the 42nd Street station on an A train from the Jay Street-MetroTech stop in Brooklyn, sources said. Investigators are using a MetroCard they recovered from him to track his recent movements, sources said.

From the Eighth Avenue platform, he walked through one of the subway system's busiest tunnels toward the Times Square subway station, through which more than 64 million people travel every year — more than any other in the city.

Surveillance cameras inside the tunnel captured the explosion on video, officials said. City Councilman Joe Borelli tweeted a photo that appears to show Ullah lying on the floor of the tunnel.

Transit hubs and other crowded public places throughout the city will see a heightened police presence Monday, de Blasio said.

As they did after October's Tribeca terror attack, the mayor and Gov. Andrew Cuomo encouraged New Yorkers to stay resilient and go about their daily lives. Anyone who sees something suspicious should report it to police, officials said.

"This is New York. The reality is that we are a target by many who would like to make a statement against democracy, against freedom," Cuomo told reporters Monday.

On the other hand, President Donald Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions criticized the United States' immigration laws in their statements on the attack.

"The President is exactly correct about the changes we need to our immigration system," Sessions said in a statement. "We have now seen two terrorist attacks in New York City in less than two months that were carried out by people who came here as the result of our failed immigration policies that do not serve the national interest—the diversity lottery and chain migration."

The blast snarled subway and bus commutes Monday morning, disrupting service on 11 train lines. The Port Authority Bus Terminal was briefly closed but reopened around 9:30 a.m. with delays or cancellations expected. Greyhound Bus canceled all service to and from the station Monday.

Subway service was mostly back to normal as of about 10 a.m., but A, C and E trains continued to skip Port Authority until just before 2 p.m., MTA officials said. The evening rush hour commute should not be affected by the bombing, MTA Chairman Joe Lhota said.

Police also shut down Eighth Avenue to vehicle traffic Monday morning, extending into the early afternoon. The avenue was cut off by emergency vehicles and metal police barricades from West 34th to 45th streets for much of the morning. Traffic returned to the busy roadway around noon.

This is a developing story. Refresh the page for updates.

Colin Miner, Kathleen Culliton and Noah Manskar contributed reporting.

(Lead image: New York City Councilman Joe Borelli tweeted this image of Akayed Ullah, the suspect in Monday morning's bombing near the Port Authority Bus Terminal. Photo via Joe Borelli on Twitter)