New York, NY —
Police are looking for a white man in his 40's who was in the Times Square area where they found a car containing a bomb. Police Commissioner Ray Kelly says a camera recorded the man in Shubert Alley looking back in the direction of the car and taking off a dark-colored shirt to reveal a red one underneath.
Kelly also says police officers are on their way to a town in Pennsylvania to talk to a man who believes he may have recorded a suspect on his video camera.
Kelly detailed the contents of the vehicle, which included three propane tanks, a gun locker with eight bags of an unknown substance, gas cans, and M88 fireworks. Kelly says if the bomb had detonated, the damage would have been significant.
"In my judgment, it would have caused causalities, a significant fire ball," Kelly says. "I'm told the vehicle itself would have at least been cut in half. And you have a large number of pedestrians in that area, so, yeah, we were lucky that it didn't detonate."
A group that monitors militant websites had said the Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility. But Kelly says there is no evidence that claim is true.
Kelly is asking the public to provide any information that may help identify the suspects behind the attempted car bombing. He says anyone with information should call 1-800-577-TIPS.