Car bomb causes terror scare, forces evacuation in Times Square By LARRY CELONA, FRANK ROSARIO and TIM PERONE Last Updated: 8:31 AM, May 2, 2010 Posted: 9:28 PM, May 1, 2010
A car bomb nearly caused a bloodbath in the heart of Times Square yesterday as a homemade explosive device in an SUV parked outside the doors of "The Lion King" fizzled out.
The bomb caused a terror scare that forced thousands of people to evacuate the Crossroads of the World and turned Times Square into a ghost town for hours.
An unidentified T-shirt vendor, who is a Vietnam veteran, saw smoke billowing from a Nissan Pathfinder and alerted Police Officer Wayne Rhatigan, a mounted patrol cop, who looked inside the smoldering vehicle at around 6:30 p.m. on West 45th Street near Seventh Avenue in front of an entrance to the Minskoff Theatre, which houses the hugely popular Disney musical, Mayor Bloomberg said early this morning.
Rhatigan, who has been on the force for 19 years, the last four in the Mounted Unit, smelled gunpowder and called in the Fire Department, which put out the car fire as he and two patrol officers cleared the area of civilians.
Bomb Squad members then searched the SUV, which bore Connecticut license plates that were actually registered to a Ford F-150, and found two gasoline cans, three propane tanks, electrical wires, black powder, consumer grade fireworks and two clocks, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said.
"I think the intent was to cause a significant ball of fire," Kelly said.
A Bomb Squad robot was used to handle the suspicious package in the back of the vehicle, officials said.
Bloomberg called the device "amateurish" but said that the city was "very lucky" because of the quick-thinking actions of the hero T-shirt vendor and Rhatigan.
Times Square car bomb: police investigate South Park link Police in New York are investigating whether a car bomb in Times Square was targeted on the makers of South Park over a controversial depiction of the Prophet Muhammad.
By Nick Allen and Gordon Rayner Published: 2:03PM BST 02 May 2010
The device, which failed to detonate, was left near the offices of Viacom, which owns the irreverent cartoon series. Last month postings on an Islamic website warned the creators of South Park - Matt Stone and Trey Parker - that they could face violent reprisals after an episode of the show featured Muhammad in a bear suit.
A posting on the website of a US-based group called Revolution Muslim warned Stone and Parker that they would “probably wind up like Theo Van Gogh”, the Dutch film-maker who was murdered in 2004 by a Muslim angered by his film about Muslim women. Images of the Prophet are strictly forbidden in Islam, and in 2006 Comedy Central, which broadcasts South Park, banned Stone and Parker from depicting Muhammad in an episode which followed worldwide protests over a caricature of the Prophet by a Danish cartoonist. Detectives are also understood to be investigating striking similarities between the New York bomb and two car bombs planted by Islamic terrorists outside the Tiger Tiger nightclub in London in 2007. In both cases, the devices comprised cylinders of propane gas and cans full of petrol intended to be ignited by electronic detonators..................>>>>............>>>>..............http://www.telegraph.co.uk/new.....South-Park-link.html
MYFOXNY.COM - New York City's police commissioner says there's no evidence of a Taliban link to a failed bomb found in an SUV parked in Times Square but sad he couldn't rule them out.
Fox 5 reported Sunday that the Pakistani Taliban has claimed responsibility for the bomb plot.
According to Fox News, in a 1 minute video allegedly released by the Pakistani Taliban, the group says the attack is revenge for the death of its leader Baitullah Mehsud and the recent killings of the top leaders of al-Qaida in Iraq.
A Pakistani-born American wanted in connection with the alleged car bombing attempt in Times Square over the weekend was arrested Monday night at John F. Kennedy airport in New York City, Attorney General Eric Holder said in an unusual early morning statement to reporters Tuesday.
Faisal Shahzad, 30, was attempting to board a flight for Dubai, Holder said. The suspect allegedly purchased the Nissan Pathfinder used for the attempted bombing from a private owner via Craigslist.
“Over the course of the day today, we have gathered additional significant evidence which led to tonight’s arrest,” Holder said in his comment delivered at the Justice Department at 1:30 A.M. “This investigation is ongoing as are our attempts to gather useful intelligence and we continue to pursue number of leads but it’s clear that the intent behind this terrorist attack was to kill Americans.”............>>>>..............>>>>................http://www.politico.com/blogs/joshgerstein/0510/Suspect_in_Times_Sq_bomb_try_nabbed_at_JFK.html
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