FBI investigated New York bomb suspect in 2014: official
The FBI probed New York bombing suspect Ahmad Khan Rahami in August 2014 after his father flagged him up to the authorities, but agents did not uncover any terror links, the agency said Tuesday.
"The FBI conducted internal database reviews, interagency checks, and multiple interviews, none of which revealed ties to terrorism," the Federal Bureau of Investigation said in a statement.
Police are investigating the motives behind Saturday's bombing in the New York neighborhood of Chelsea, which injured 29 people. It followed a pipe blast earlier in the day in a New Jersey beach town that forced the cancellation of a US Marine Corps run.
Authorities suspect that in addition to the two bombs that exploded, Rahami built eight other bombs that failed to detonate.
Rahami, a 28-year-old Afghan American, was wounded in a shootout Monday with police in Linden, New Jersey.
His father, Mohammad Rahami, had earlier told reporters that his son was a danger.
"He doing bad, he stabbed my son, he hit my wife," the father said.
Authorities are scrutinizing Rahami's extensive travel to Afghanistan and Pakistan, and analyzing a notebook that reportedly contained writings about Al-Qaeda.
Rahami has so far been charged with unlawful weapon possession and five counts of attempted murder of a police official.