New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo told reporters Sunday the explosion in downtown Manhattan is not linked to international terrorism.
He said the city has deployed 1,000 additional law enforcement officers to handle the aftermath and investigate the explosion, which left 29 people injured in New York City’s Chelsea neighborhood. A second unexploded device was also found four blocks away on West 27th Street.
“Whoever placed these bombs we will find, and they will be brought to justice. Period,” Cuomo said. “We will not allow these types of people and these types of threats to disrupt our life in New York.”
The Democratic governor reported that the preliminary investigation showed no link to international terror, and he encouraged New Yorkers to go about their day as usual. “We’re not going to let them instill fear,” he added.
The blast appeared to have originated from a construction toolbox in front of a building, a law enforcement official told the Associated Press. At about 8:30 p.m., the explosion blew out several windows of nearby businesses and scattered debris. Those injured were immediately taken to a hospital nearby.
The law enforcement official also told AP that the second device appeared to be a pressure cooker attached to wiring and cellphone — a similar device to the one used by Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev in the Boston Marathon bombing.
It was removed with a robot and transported to a department firing range in the Bronx, according to AP.
Presidential nominees Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have already responded to the Chelsea blast. Clinton said the country should “let the investigation unfold,” while Trump said we need to “get very, very tough.”
“It’s a terrible thing that’s going on in our world, in our country and we are going to get tough and smart and vigilant,” Trump added.
Several other attacks ripped through the United States Saturday, including an exploding pipe bomb in Seaside Park, New Jersey and a mall stabbing in St. Cloud, Minnesota that left eight people injured.
The Minnesota attacker, shot dead by an off-duty police officer, allegedly made references to Allah and asked at least one victim if he or she was Muslim, St. Cloud Police Chief William Blair Anderson told reporters.
A jihadi-linked news agency reported that an Islamic State “soldier” carried out the stabbings, though Anderson told reporters he is not yet willing to conclude the attack was associated with ISIS.
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