NYPD's Kelly Casts Doubt on Taliban Claim; Police Say Man Near Scene Was Looking Around In A 'Furtive Manner'
May 2, 2010
New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said a white male in his 40s was seen near the SUV that was parked on a Times Square street and packed with explosives.
The man was seen leaving the area and shedding a dark shirt, revealing a red shirt underneath, about a half block from where survellance cameras saw the vehicle entering Times Square in New York City at about 6:28 pm Saturday. The video of the possible suspect is expected to be released later today. Kelly said the individual was looking around in a furtive manner, but also stressed that the behavior could be totally innocent.
At a Sunday afternoon press conference, Kelly said police would be reviewing hundreds of hours of videotape, and that police had identified the owner of the green Nissan Pathfinder but had not yet spoken to the owner. Detectives are in Pennsylvania today meeting with tourists who think they may have captured a suspect on video.
Kelly said "no evidence" supports the Pakistani Taliban's claim of responsibilty for the bombing, but had not yet ruled out either domestic or international motives for the attempted attack.
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"Clearly it was the intent of whoever did this to cause mayhem and create casualties," said Kelly. "It was just a sober reminder that New York is clearly a target of people who want to come here and do us harm."
At about 2 p.m. Sunday, NYPD breached a 55 by 32 inch gun locker inside the car and found it contained eight bags of an unknown, fertilizer-like substance and an inverted pot with a "bird's nest" of wires. There were three propane tanks next to the gun locker, two five-gallon jerry cans of gasoline, and a timing device, police officials said. There was no high-grade explosive, and the timing device was clocks attached to wires. Attached to the propane tanks were M88 fireworks, some of which went off.
One alarm clock appeared to be wired into the gun locker. Another alarm clock was wired to a can with up to 30 M88 firecrackers resting between the cans of gasoline.
Kelly said it was too early to determine whether the device was crude or not. "The system was workable," he said. "The materials are in doubt."
The Connecticut license plate on the car does not match the vehicle, and investigators have spoken to the individual to whom the plates are registered, according to Kelly.
That license plate ultimately was traced to a Connecticut junkyard, officials said.
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