He was almost home free.
The Pakistani man suspected in the failed plot to bomb Times Square was arrested “at the last second” after boarding an Emirates airlines flight bound for Dubai and then Pakistan.
Faisal Shahzad, 30, had boarded the Dubai-bound flight and the jet was on the way to the runway when authorities desperately called it back and made the arrest late last night.
“They just caught him at the last second,” a federal law enforcement source told CNN.
The airline confirmed the plane was called back prior to departure and that three passengers were removed. The flight was delayed 7 hours, before leaving at 6:30 this morning.
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“Full security procedures were activated,” the airline said in a statement. “Emirates is cooperating with the local authorities.”
Deputy FBI director John Pistole said Shahzad was placed on the “No Fly” list on Monday, hours before he was arrested — a key step in stopping him from fleeing the country.
Shahzad is due to appear in Manhattan federal court today.
Shahzad, 30, is a naturalized U.S. citizen and had recently returned from a five-month trip to Pakistan, where he had a wife, according to law enforcement officials who spoke to The Associated Press.
Brenda Thurman, a neighbor near where Shahzad used to live in Shelton, Conn., said he lived there with his wife and two small children.
Shahzad had told her husband that he worked on Wall Street, she said, adding that she was surprised by the turn of events.
“I can’t believe something like this happened. I can’t believe it.”
Law enforcement officials say Shahzad bought the SUV, a 1993 Nissan Pathfinder, from a Connecticut man about three weeks ago and paid cash.
The vehicle identification number had been removed from the Pathfinder’s dashboard, but it was stamped on the engine, and investigators used it to find the owner of record, who told them he had sold the vehicle to a stranger. As the SUV buyer came into focus, investigators backed off other leads.
Mayor Bloomberg thanked law enforcement officials, saying their “swift efforts led to this arrest after only 48 hours of around-the-clock investigation.”
Bloomberg, however, did say he was troubled as to how Shahzad was able to board a plane.
It remains unknown when Shahzad purchased his ticket.
“We were lucky. … We live in an age when we have an enemy that lives overseas and homegrown radicalism … that means we constantly have to be on guard,” said Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.).
In a briefing today, President Obama said the botched attack is a “sobering reminder of the world we live in.”
“Quick-thinking helped save hundreds of lives,” he said.
With AP