Police Arrest Man in Times Square Bombing Attempt

Police have arrested a suspect in the failed Times Square bombing attempt. Faisal Shahzad, 30, was arrested on a flight that was bound for Pakistan, but had not yet left the tarmac.
Police had earlier interviewed the registered owner of the 1993 Nissan Pathfinder used in the attempt and from that conversation, learned that Shahzad had purchased the vehicle three weeks earlier.
Authorities say the investigation is ongoing. The suspect, a naturalized American citizen, allegedly told authorities he acted alone, but Pakistani authorities arrested a man that had met with Shahzad last year.
The NYPD and FBI also were examining ``hundreds of hours'' of security videotape from around Times Square. They traveled to Pennsylvania for video shot by a tourist of a different person, and were evaluating the tape Monday and determining whether to make it public.
Police said the crude gasoline-and-propane bomb could have produced ``a significant fireball'' and sprayed shrapnel and metal parts with enough force to kill pedestrians and knock out windows. The SUV was parked on one of America's busiest streets, lined with Broadway theaters and restaurants and full of people out on a Saturday night.
The area bounced back quickly and had returned to its normal bustle on a rainy Monday morning.
Police released a photograph of the SUV as it crossed an intersection at 6:28 p.m. Saturday. A vendor pointed out the SUV to an officer about two minutes later.
The explosive device in the SUV had cheap-looking alarm clocks connected to a 16-ounce can filled with fireworks, which were apparently intended to detonate the gas cans and set the propane afire in a chain reaction, said Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly.
Investigators had feared that a final component placed in the cargo area _ a metal rifle cabinet packed a fertilizer-like substance and rigged with wires and more fireworks _ could have made the device even more devastating. Test results late Sunday showed it was indeed fertilizer, but NYPD bomb experts believe it was not a type volatile enough to explode like the ammonium nitrate grade fertilizer used in previous terror attacks, said police spokesman Paul Browne.
The exact amount of fertilizer was unknown. Police estimated the cabinet weighed 200 to 250 pounds when they pulled it from the vehicle.
Times Square, choked with taxis and people on one of the first summer-like days of the year, was shut down for 10 hours. Detectives took the stage at the end of some of Broadway shows to announce to theatergoers that they were looking for witnesses in a bombing attempt.