Police want to speak to a man seen pushing a Bed Bath & Beyond shopping cart near the scene.
The New York Police Department has released the photo of a man they are trying to locate after a series of suspicious items were placed inside a subway station and on the street Friday morning.
Police say he left two electric rice cookers on the upper and lower levels of the Fulton Street subway station at the peak of rush hour.
The situation brought Manhattan’s financial district to a standstill, and panic spread to the Oculus and under One World Trade Center. The entire transportation hub was evacuated as rush-hour delays cascaded through the entire subway system.
Once the devices were found to be harmless, they were taken away by the bomb squad.
A third cooker was found above ground, on the sidewalk at the corner of 16th Street and Seventh Avenue in the trendy Chelsea district. While it is not clear if this device is connected to the two found in the subway station, they are all the same make, model and year.
Inside Edition found the same rice cookers on sale at a Bed Bath & Beyond store in the Tribeca neighborhood, which is not far from the Fulton Street subway station.
Similar cookers have been used to house bombs like those detonated during the 2013 Boston Marathon.
The person of interest was wearing a navy blue Amazon Prime Day 2018 shirt and pushing a Bed Bath & Beyond shopping cart. He has a large tattoo on his right arm.
“We need to identify the individual and talk to him,” Deputy Commissioner of Intelligence and Counterterrorism of the NYPD John Miller said at a press conference Friday.
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