LINDEN, New Jersey– A bar owner in Linden, New Jersey, called police after he spotted bombing suspect Ahmad Rahami sleeping in the doorway of his establishment early Monday morning, leading to his capture and arrest.
Harinder Bains doesn’t see himself as a hero.
“I am just a regular citizen doing what every citizen should do,” Bains told Anderson Cooper on “Anderson Cooper 360.
Initially, Harinder Bains thought Rahami was a “drunk guy” wandering the streets. Bains first spotted him about 6:45 a.m. on a bench outside Merdie’s Tavern, which is about 3 miles south of where police found a backpack containing bombs the night before.
Later, as Bains was watching CNN from another business across the street, he recognized the 28-year-old as the person wanted for questioning in this weekend’s bombings in New York and New Jersey, and called 911.
Rahami, who seemed to be napping, had let himself into the small enclosure outside the brick building.
“I just told them the guy looks a little suspicious and doesn’t look good to me,” Bains told Cooper.
When officers confronted him, Rahami pulled out a handgun and shot one of them.
“He shot twice and the glass splinters almost hit my store,” Bains said.
People who were in the area at the time gathered after the gunshots rang out and captured footage of Rahami, who looked dazed as medics wheeled him into an ambulance.
He was taken to a hospital with his hands shackled behind his back.
Two officers were taken to local hospitals and treated for non-life threatening injuries. Rahami was charged with five counts of attempted murder of a law enforcement officer stemming from the shootout.
“Cops are the real hero,” Bains said. “Law enforcement are the real hero. “When you see something you should say something.”
