Neighbors Describe Port Authority Attack Suspect As 'Loner'
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The subway was attacked during rush hour by an apparent suicide bomber.
The alleged attacker has been identified as 27-year-old Akayed Ullah.
Six people, including Ullah, were injured in the blast.
Investigators said the bomb was poorly constructed, and failed to properly detonate.
They have the remnants of the device, which includes some type of Christmas light that may have been used as an electrical component.
Governor Cuomo said security has been boosted at high profile locations statewide, and investigators have been sent to Ullah's Brooklyn home.
The FBI and NYPD bomb squad were on the scene as early as 8:30 a.m. looking for any information as to what may have motivated him.
The home is on East 48th Street in the Flatlands section of Brooklyn. A quiet, tight-knit community where neighbors said the only problem they ever had with the suspect's family was over a parking spot.
Neighbors said Ullah lived in the basement of the brick multi-family home near Avenue N for at least the last 5 years. They said his mother, father, and brother -- who has his own wife and child --lived in the unit upstairs.
Ullah's family released a statement on Monday night.
"We are heartbroken by this attack on our city today and by the allegations being made against a member of our family, but we are also outraged by the behavior of law enforcement officials who have held children as young as 4 years old out in the cold and who pulled a teenager out of high school classes to interrogate him without a lawyer, without his parents. These are not the actions that we expect from our justice system, and we hope to see better in the days and weeks to come. We also ask the press to respect our privacy and to give our family time to grieve this horrific development," they said in part.
Ross Fiallace said he saw cops speaking with the family Monday morning.
"They just pulled the whole family out of the house for questioning. They just quietly, no emotion, just out into the car and that's it," he said.
A few hours before Ullah's alleged pipe bomb attack near the bus terminal, neighbor Kisslyn Joseph said she heard someone pacing outside, swearing on the phone.
"It was a heated argument, it was 2 o'clock, 3 o'clock in the morning," she said.
Cops said Ullah is from Bangladesh and came to the U.S. in 2011 on an immigrant visa. He eventually became a permanent resident.
Neighbor Alan Butrico said he was a for hire driver and drove a black sedan that constantly blocked his driveway.
"He was nasty. We told him to move the car, it felt like he owned it," he said.
Others said he was a loner, who rarely said hello.
"Not, not him, but the rest of the family, yes," George Sciarrone said.
None of the behavior lead anyone to believe they lived next to an alleged terrorist.
"Just because we had an argument, I wouldn't think that. You never know who your neighbor is, it's crazy," Butrico said.
