A man detonated a homemade explosive in the Port Authority subway station on December 11th at about 7:20AM. Citing his motivation as the terrorist group ISIS, suspect Akayed Ullah, a 27-year-old Bangladeshi man is facing eight federal and state terrorism-related charges.

Although only one of Ullah’s bombs went off, the suspect is cited to have had at least two bombs. The one that went off was described to be “a foot-long pipe that contained black powder, a battery, wiring, nails and screws” powered by a 9-volt battery. Ullah was supposedly hoping to set off a bomb in this major hub of New York transportation to injure as many of the 200,000 estimated Port Authority passengers as possible; he rode on the subway from about Brooklyn to Manhattan with the pipe bomb strapped to his body with “hook-and-loop fasteners and zip ties.”

Fortunately, the mass destruction intended by this homemade Brooklyn bomb was not achieved because the bomb only partially detonated; the chemical was released into the air, but there was no mass explosion. After the bomb went off, everyone began to evacuate.

However, the suspect was caught and arrested by four very courageous Port Authority officers named Sean Gallagher, Drew Preston, John Collins, and Anthony Manfredini. Manfredini was the first to notice the smoke from the bomb while he was patrolling his general vicinity, and collaborated with the other officers to take Ullah’s cell phone (the possible detonation device) from him.

Afterwards, the Port Authority Bus Terminal and subway station were shut down and evacuated for the safety of the passengers.

“This was an attempted terrorist attack,” Mayor de Blasio said. “Thank God the perpetrator did not achieve his ultimate goals. Thank God the only injuries we know about at this point are minor.”

Five victims in stable condition were treated for minor wounds and released today, but the suspect himself is seriously injured and being treated at Bellevue Hospital for burns. He claims that he was “prepared to die” while he detonated the bomb.

The President Donald J. Trump has publicly condemned this attempted act of terrorism and related it back to his policies of immigration and domestic security. He said, “Those convicted of engaging in acts of terror deserve the strongest penalty allowed by law… America should always stand firm against terrorism and extremism, ensuring that our great institutions can address all evil acts of terror.”