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Times Sq. bomb suspect sought – Metro US

Times Sq. bomb suspect sought

Investigators are hunting a suspect who tried to detonate a car bomb in jam-packed Times Square Saturday night.

“Investigators are in the process of combing through hundreds of hours of surveillance video,” New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said.

Around 6:30 p.m. Saturday, a T-shirt vendor noticed smoke coming from the Nissan Pathfinder parked at 45th Street and Seventh Avenue, near the Broadway theater for the “Lion King” and alerted police.

Security cameras recorded a suspicious-looking white man in his 40s seen in an alley near the loaded SUV. They’re also heading to Pennsylvania to look at images a tourist believes may be of someone “lunging” from the vehicle.

Despite a Taliban claim of responsibility, Kelly said there was no evidence of its involvement. Police said they were exploring all possible motives including a suggestion it was targeting the nearby offices of Viacom, whose “South Park” recently drew warnings of reprisal from an Islamic Web site for an episode portraying the Prophet Mohammed in a bear costume.

Police traced the SUV’s license plates — which were not reported stolen — to a car in a Connecticut auto shop and said they know the Pathfinder’s owner.