What to Know
- Exclusive surveillance video obtained by NBC 4 shows suspect Ahmad Rahami leaving a bag allegedly containing a pressure cooker bomb Saturday
- It was left on West 27th Street, where two men took out the cooker and wheeled off the suitcase. Police want to speak to those witnesses
- The pressure-cooker device never exploded but multiple people are seen in the video kicking it
Exclusive new surveillance video shows suspected bomber Ahmad Rahami dumping luggage allegedly containing a pressure-cooker bomb on a Manhattan street Saturday night, and the heartstopping moments in which multiple passersby fiddle with and even kick the explosive device over the next hour.
NBC 4 New York obtained the video Thursday, a day after getting exclusive surveillance video of the suspect wheeling the alleged bomb luggage down the street.
The beginning of the video shows Rahami walking into the frame with a piece of roller luggage in tow. He props the bag up, turns around and walks away, leaving the bag behind -- directly across a hotel with dozens of windows and people dining out on West 27th Street in Chelsea.
Moments later, two men spot the bag and open it, inspecting what's inside. They remove a white trash bag, allegedly with the pressure cooker bomb inside. They take the device out of the bag, set it on the sidewalk and then examine the top and bottom. The men leave the device behind and walk away with the bag toward Sixth Avenue.
Police have stressed the men are witnesses and not connected to Rahami. Law enforcement sources said they do not believe the men knew they were handling a potential explosive.
Time goes by and so do dozens of people, video shows. Three men walk up to the bomb, not knowing what's there, and one of them actually kicks it.
The minutes tick, more people go by. One man on a bicycle kicks the pressure cooker, too.
Finally, a woman notices the object, turns around and goes back for a closer look and calls police.
Two responding state troopers step up to the device, snap a photo and call for backup, video shows. Moments later, the NYPD bomb squad and their robot arrive and remove the device.
The woman who called police, Jane Schreibman, spoke to NBC 4 New York Sunday.
"I looked at it and said, 'That looks like a child's science equipment, they must have thrown it out in the garbage,'" she said. "I realize there was no garbage because it's not garbage day."
