New Jersey homeless man who gave bomb backpack to police: ‘Im grateful’
Lee Parker and his friend Ian White found the abandoned backpack allegedly planted by Ahmad Khan Rahami near the Elizabeth, New Jersey train station
The homeless man who found a backpack of bombs in Elizabeth, New Jersey, on Sunday night spoke publicly about his shock at finding the explosive devices allegedly planted by Ahmad Khan Rahami, who remains in a New Jersey hospital after being captured in a police shootout on Monday.
Under the so-called heros cape, Im just a regular dude, said Lee Parker, 50. I still have my nine lives, I guess, and Im going to keep trying to live them well.
Parker and his friend Ian White found the abandoned backpack near the Elizabeth train station. After taking it, they walked down the street and realized the backpack had wires coming out of it. They immediately contacted police, who attempted to disarm the bomb, although one bomb exploded in the process.
Parker says he replays in his mind what would have happened if the backpack exploded while they carried it.
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I see it sometimes in the back of my mind and I know I need to get past it, said Parker. But, I feel good. Im OK, and Im grateful.
A GoFundMe page set up as a thank you from the community has already raised more than $17,000, with the funds to be split among Parker, White and the Elizabeth Coalition to House the Homeless. That local non-profit is currently paying for Parker to stay in a hotel, and hes received donated food and clothes.
Elizabeth mayor Chris Bollwage hailed the pair on Monday as saviors to their community and very lucky in their own right.
Those two people go through life on the edge and in a very difficult position and yet they probably saved hundreds of lives by walking over to Elizabeth police headquarters, he told reporters outside Rahamis family home on Monday.
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Theyre also walking on the side of angels, they picked up that backpack … and they carried [it] 800-1,000 feet before they realized what was in it, said Bollwage.
Authorities are investigating whether Rahami, 28, planned the attack as a lone wolf or if others were involved in bombings in New Jersey and New York over the weekend.
As far as whether hes a lone actor, thats still the path we are following but we are keeping all the options open, said William Sweeney, the FBIs assistant director in New York.
Late Tuesday, authorities charged Rahami with bombing, property destruction and use of weapons of mass destruction regarding a bombing in Chelsea on Saturday night that injured 29 people, as well as pipe bombs planted in Seaside Park, New Jersey, on Saturday and Elizabeth on Sunday night. However, no terrorism charges were filed .
Police have not yet been allowed to speak with Rahami, who remains in a hospital in Newark, New Jersey, after being captured by police in nearby Linden on Monday.
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New Jersey congressman Tom MacArthur, who was briefed by the FBI, said yesterday that Rahami required multiple surgeries due to gunshot wounds to his leg, forearm and shoulder from his gun battle with police.
Preet Bharara, the US attorney in Manhattan, said prosecutors plan to move Rahami to New York once his medical condition improves.
On Wednesday, the FBI released a photo showing the two unidentified men who found a second bomb allegedly left by Rahami, made from a pressure cooker, inside a piece of luggage in Chelsea on Saturday night. The men removed the bomb presumably unaware of what it was and stole the luggage. The FBI is seeking the men as witnesses, not suspects.
The FBI is interested in speaking to these individuals and recovering the luggage, reads the FBI poster.