NEW YORK — A would-be suicide bomber inspired by Islamic State extremists strapped on a crude pipe bomb, slipped unnoticed into the nation’s busiest subway system and set the device off at rush hour Monday in a scenario that New York has dreaded for years, authorities said.
In the end, the only serious wounds were to the suspect identified as Akayed Ullah, a 27-year-old Bangladeshi immigrant and former cab driver. But the attack sent terrified commuters fleeing through a smoky passageway, and three people suffered headaches and ringing ears from the first bomb blast in the subway in more than two decades.
“This was an attempted terrorist attack,” Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio said. “Thank God the perpetrator did not achieve his ultimate goals.”
The suspect had looked as Islamic State propaganda online and told investigators he acted alone in retaliation for U.S. military aggression, law enforcement officials said.
In Washington, President Donald Trump said the explosion highlighted the need to change immigration policies, including the type of family-based visa Ullah obtained to come to the U.S. in 2011. Such visas are “incompatible with national security,” the Republican president said in a statement.
“America must fix its lax immigration system, which allows far too many dangerous, inadequately vetted people to access our country,” said Trump, who campaigned on cracking down on immigration.
The attack near Times Square came less than two months after eight people died near the World Trade Center in a truck attack authorities said was carried out by an Uzbek immigrant who admired the Islamic State group.
Law enforcement officials said Ullah was inspired by the Islamic State but apparently had no direct contact with the group. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said there was no evidence, so far, of other bombs or a larger plot. He said officials were exploring whether Ullah had been on authorities’ radar, but there was no indication yet that he was.
Cuomo said there was reason to believe the attacker looked at bomb-making instructions online.
Investigators described the bomb as a low-tech explosive device attached to Ullah with “Velcro and plastic ties.” It was ignited with a Christmas light, matches and a nine-volt battery. The short pipe was packed with explosive powder but did not work as intended. It was not powerful enough to turn the pipe into deadly shrapnel, the officials said.
Investigators said the suspect was seen on surveillance footage putting the circuits together with his hands and igniting the bomb. Some of the bomb-making materials may have been bought commercially. The pipe may have been obtained from his job where he worked as an electrician, an official said.
Authorities were searching Ullah’s Brooklyn home and a nearby rented space, interviewing witnesses and relatives, reviewing his subway fare card and looking for surveillance footage that might show his movements in the moments before the 7:20 a.m. attack.
Security cameras captured the attacker walking casually through a crowded passageway under 42nd Street between Seventh and Eighth avenues when the bomb went off amid a plume of white smoke, which cleared to show the man sprawled on the ground and commuters scattering.
“All we could hear was the chaos,” said Elrana Peralta, a Greyhound customer-service worker who was working at the Port Authority bus terminal near the blast, though she did not hear it. Instead, she heard people yelling, “Get out! Get out! Get out!”
