Arrest in the Times Square Investigation

Statement of the U.s. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the New York City Police Department on an Arrest in the Times Square Investigation


"At approximately 11:45 P.M. EDT, Faisal Shahzad was taken into custody. Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and detectives of the New York City Police Department arrested Shahzad for allegedly driving a car bomb into Times Square on the evening of May 1, 2010. Shahzad, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Pakistan, was taken into custody at John F. Kennedy International Airport after he was identified by the Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Customs and Border Protection while attempting to take a flight to Dubai.

The defendant will appear in Manhattan federal court (500 Pearl Street, 5th Floor, New York, N.Y.) on May 4, 2010, at a currently undetermined time to be presented on formal charges. No further details are available at this time.

We applaud the collective work of the New York Joint Terrorism Task Force and the prosecutors and investigators in the Southern District of New York, who have worked around-the-clock for the last two days in this investigation. We would also like to recognize the diligent work of the Customs and Border Protection agents and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut.

The investigation remains very much ongoing, and the dedicated agents, detectives, and prosecutors on this case will continue to follow every lead and use every tool to keep the people of New York City safe. We will not rest until every terrorist, whether homegrown or foreign-based, is neutralized and held to account," said United States Attorney Preet Bharara, FBI Special Agent-in-Charge George Venizelos, and New York City Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly.