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NATION/WORLD Tuesday, September 20, 2016 East Oregonian Page 7A Suspect shot, captured in New York area bombings By DEEPTI HAJELA and JAKE PEARSON Associated Press LINDEN, N.J. — A New Jersey police oficer responding to a call about a hoodied vagrant curled up asleep in a bar doorway roused him and quickly recognized the bearded face of perhaps the most wanted man in America. Ahmad Khan Rahami — identiied in an FBI bulletin just hours earlier as a man wanted in the weekend bombings in New York City and New Jersey — pulled a gun, shot the oficer and trig- gered a running gun battle in the street that ended with Rahami wounded and in custody Monday, authorities said. A bloodied Rahami was loaded into the back of an ambulance, just 50 hours after the irst blast that started it all. Rahami, 28, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Afghan- Nicolaus Czarnecki/Boston Herald via AP Ahmad Khan Rahami is taken into custody after a shootout with police Monday in Linden, N.J. istan who lived with his Muslim family in Elizabeth, New Jersey, underwent surgery for a gunshot wound to the leg as authorities began drawing up charges in a case that spread fear across the New York area and revived anxiety about homegrown terrorism. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said oficials have every reason to believe the series of bombings “was an act of terror,” though inves- tigators said Rahami’s exact motive isn’t yet clear. With Rahami’s arrest, oficials said they have no indication there are more bombs or suspects to ind, though they cautioned that they are still investigating. Still, after a whirlwind investigation that put Rahami in custody in just U.N. aid convoy attacked, Syria says cease-ire failed Associated Press BEIRUT — A U.N. humanitarian aid convoy in Syria was hit by airstrikes Monday as the Syrian military declared that a U.S.-Russian brokered cease-ire had failed, and U.N. oficials reported many dead and seriously wounded. The U.S. initially brushed off Damascus’ assertions and said it was prepared to extend the agreement, while Russia — after blaming rebels for the violations — suggested it could still be salvaged. But late Monday, U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby called the convoy attack an “egregious viola- tion” of the week-long cease- ire and said the U.S. “will reassess the future prospects for cooperation with Russia.” U.N. humanitarian chief Stephen O’Brien said initial reports indicate that many were killed or seriously injured in the convoy attack, including Syrian Arab Red Crescent volunteers. A Red Crescent warehouse was also hit and a Red Cres- cent health clinic was reported to be seriously damaged, he said. O’Brien called the attacks “sickening” and said he was “disgusted and horriied.” He stressed that all parties received notiication of the convoy, which was carrying aid for about 78,000 people. U.N. oficials said the U.N. and Red Crescent convoy was delivering assistance to the town of Uram al-Kubra, west of Aleppo city. Initial esti- Modar Shekho via AP Activists in Syria’s besieged Aleppo protest September 13 against the United Nations for what they say is its failure to lift the siege off their rebel-held area. mates indicated that at least 18 of the 31 trucks in the convoy were hit. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 12 were killed in the attack, mostly truck drivers and Red Cres- cent workers. The Syrian Civil Defense, the volunteer irst responder group also known as the White Helmets, conirmed that casualty igure. They posted images of a number of vehicles on ire in the dead of the night. A video of the attack showed huge balls of ire in a pitch black area, as ambulances arrived on the scene. Jan Egeland, humanitarian aid coordinator in the ofice of the U.N. envoy for Syria, told The Associated Press in a text message that the convoy was “bombarded.” Egeland added, “It is outra- geous that it was hit while ofloading at warehouses.” O’Brien, the U.N. human- itarian chief, said there is no excuse “for waging war on brave and selless humani- tarian workers,” and warned that if they were deliberately targeted “it would amount to a war crime.” Elsewhere at least 20 civil- ians, including a 1-year-old girl, were killed in fresh airstrikes on rebel-held parts of Aleppo city and surrounding areas, according to the Observatory. And Russia said government positions in southwestern Aleppo came under attack from militant groups, including a massive barrage of rockets. The week-old cease-ire had brought a brief respite to at least some parts the war-torn country. Its future will be at the top of the agenda of a meeting Tuesday morning of about 20 countries supporting opposing sides in the Syria conlict, including the U.S. and Russia, that belong to the International Syria Support Group. two days’ time, “I’m a lot happier today than I was yesterday,” New York City Police Commissioner James O’Neill said. The probe started when a pipe bomb blew up Saturday morning in Seaside Park, New Jersey, before a charity race to beneit Marines. No one was injured. Then a shrapnel-packed pressure-cooker bomb similar to those used in the Boston Marathon attack exploded Saturday night in New York’s Chelsea section, wounding 29 people, none seriously. An unexploded pressure-cooker bomb was found blocks away. Late Sunday night, ive explosive devices were discovered in a trash can at an Elizabeth train station. Investigators said they are still gathering evidence and have not publicly tied Rahami to those devices. Late Monday, a hospital- ized Rahami was charged in New Jersey with ive counts Crutcher’s twin sister, Tiffany Crutcher, called for charges Monday. “The big bad dude was my twin brother. That big bad dude was a father,” she said. “That big bad dude was a son. That big bad dude was enrolled at Tulsa Community College, just wanting to make us proud. That big bad dude loved God. That big bad dude was at church singing with all of his laws, every week. That big bad dude, that’s who he was.” Police video shows Crutcher walking toward his SUV that is stopped in the middle of the road. His hands are up and a female oficer is following him. As Crutcher approaches the driver’s side of the SUV, three male oficers walk up and Crutcher appears to lower his hands and place them on the vehicle. The ofi- cers surround him, making it harder to see his actions from the dashboard camera’s angle. Crutcher can be seen drop- ping to the ground. Someone on the police radio says, “I think he may have just been tasered.” One of the oficers near Crutcher backs up slightly. Then almost immediately, someone can be heard yelling, “Shots ired!” Crutcher’s head then drops, leaving him completely lying out in the street. WASHINGTON (AP) — Congressional negotiators on Monday pressed to wrap up a must-do spending bill to prevent an election-season government shutdown and inally provide money to battle the Zika virus, but numerous sticking points remain and top Senate leaders again postponed a planned procedural vote. The stopgap measure would keep the government running past the end of the budget year this month. It’s the only measure that has to pass before Congress adjourns for Election Day. As such, the talks have been tricky, with Republi- cans controlling Congress battling Democrats and the Obama administration. A controversy involving whether Planned Parenthood should be eligible for anti- Zika funding in Puerto Rico — which sparked a Demo- cratic blockade of an earlier measure — was defused HERITAGE A Walk Through Oregon K ERRY T YMCHUK • Executive Director Oregon Historical Society Saturday • October 1st •12-2 pm Pendleton Convention Center $40 UCHS M EMBERS $50 G ENERAL P UBLIC Tickets available at Heritage Station Museum & Pendleton Book Company with little fanfare last week. Senate Republicans, who have taken the lead in the talks, have relented and would make afiliates of Planned Parenthood eligible for funds to ight the virus in Puerto Rico. But unrelated contro- versies over pesticide regu- lations, spending cuts and limitations on how many hours long-haul truckers can drive remain unresolved. A request by Democrats to add money to help the city of Flint, Michigan, ix its lead-tainted water system is being opposed by Republi- cans who want it to advance on a separate water projects measure. Senate Republicans, meanwhile, had pressed for a down payment on President Barack Obama’s $2.6 billion request for Louisiana lood aid. Republican Sen. Ted Cruz is pushing for a provi- sion in the bill to ensure that the U.S. government doesn’t relinquish control of the internet’s addressing system. The government is expected to take that step, and Cruz has been ighting it. “It is my hope that Congress is going to act to maintain current law and to protect the internet, keep the internet free,” Cruz told reporters. “It would be profoundly harmful to Amer- ican interests and to the free- speech rights of Americans to give Russia and China and Iran greater control over the internet, and I hope we see a bipartisan consensus to protect free speech online.” After talks over the weekend failed to produce much progress, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., post- poned a procedural vote that had been slated for Monday evening. The delay probably means Congress won’t wrap up its pre-Election Day session this week. Meet our newest primary care physician. Jennifer Poste, MD Internal Medicine & Endocrinology “ LUNCHEON 2016 FBI’s assistant director in New York, said there were no indications Rahami was on law enforcement’s radar at the time of the bombings. Authorities zeroed in on him as the potential bomber after a ingerprint and DNA obtained from one of the New York sites and “clear as day” surveillance video from the bombing scene helped identify him, according to three law enforcement ofi- cials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case. Five people were pulled over Sunday night in a vehicle associated with Rahami but were questioned and released, Sweeney said, declining to say whether they might later face charges. The law enforcement oficials said at least one of Rahami’s relatives was in the car, which appeared headed toward Kennedy Airport in New York after coming from New Jersey. Congress struggles to inish Zika aid Tulsa police stun then fatally shoot unarmed black man with hands up TULSA, Okla. (AP) — An unarmed black man killed by a white Oklahoma oficer who was responding to a stalled vehicle can be seen in police video walking away from oficers and toward his SUV with his hands up before he approaches the driver’s side door, where he drops to the ground after being shocked with a stun gun then fatally shot. In Tulsa police helicopter footage that was among several clips released Monday showing the shooting of 40-year-old Terence Crutcher and its aftermath, a man in the helicopter that arrives above the scene as Crutcher walks to the vehicle can be heard saying “time for a Taser.” He then says: “That looks like a bad dude, too. Probably on something.” Police Chief Chuck Jordan announced before the video and audio recordings’ release that Crutcher had no weapon on him or in his SUV when he was shot Friday. It’s not clear from the footage what led Betty Shelby, the oficer who ired the fatal shot, to draw her gun or what orders oficers might have given Crutcher. Local and federal investigations are underway to determine whether crim- inal charges are warranted in the shooting or if Crutcher’s civil rights were violated. of attempted murder of police oficers in connection with the shootout and was held on $5.2 million bail. Federal prosecutors said they were still weighing charges over the bombings. It wasn’t known if Rahami had an attorney. Messages left for family members were not immediately returned. Rahami lived with his family above their fried-chicken restaurant in Elizabeth, and his relatives have clashed with the city over closing times and noise complaints they said were tinged with anti-Muslim sentiment. A childhood friend, Flee Jones, said Rahami had become more religious after returning from a trip to Afghanistan several years ago. Still, some of the family restaurant’s customers said that while Rahami was devout, he was more likely to talk about his interest in cars than to mention faith. 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