Times Square bomb suspect is indicted

Faisal Shahzad was indicted by a federal grand jury Thursday on charges that he attempted to set off a car bomb in New York’s Times Square after undergoing explosives training from a militant extremist group, receiving thousands of dollars in cash from a co-conspirator and leaving a loaded semiautomatic rifle in his second car.

The indictment, returned in U.S. District Court in New York, charged Shahzad with 10 criminal counts, including the attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction and an attempted act of terrorism for parking his wired SUV Nissan Pathfinder in the heart of Manhattan. If convicted, he faces life in prison.

Shahzad, 30, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Pakistan, was arrested May 3 at John F. Kennedy International Airport after boarding a flight to Dubai, United Arab Emirates. He was interrogated for days by FBI and U.S. intelligence officials and, according to the indictment, “admitted that he had recently received bomb-making training in Pakistan and he also admitted that he had brought the Pathfinder to Times Square and attempted to detonate it.”

“The Pakistani Taliban facilitated Faisal Shahzad’s attempted attack on American soil,” Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. said in announcing the indictment. “Our nation averted serious loss of life.”

New York Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said, “Today’s indictment is a stark reminder that New York remains a terrorist target and that we must be vigilant to protect the city.”

According to the charges, Shahzad began receiving explosives training in Waziristan, Pakistan, in December from experts affiliated with Tehrik-e-Taliban, a militant extremist group there.

On Feb. 25, the indictment said, Shahzad, having returned to the U.S., received about $5,000 in cash in Massachusetts that was sent to him from an unnamed “co-conspirator in Pakistan” whom Shahzad understood worked for Tehrik-e-Taliban. Then on April 10, he received an additional $7,000 in cash in Ronkonkoma, N.Y., the documents said. Again, the money was sent by the co-conspirator, the indictment said.

Shahzad used the money to purchase the SUV for $1,300, as well as the bomb components, the indictment said, and then loaded the explosives and detonator into the Pathfinder just hours before driving it to Times Square on May 1, parking it near 45th Street and 7th Avenue.

The indictment added that Shahzad had “attempted to begin the detonation process” but failed. He then “abandoned” the Pathfinder and returned to his home in Connecticut.

The indictment also says that Shahzad had purchased a semiautomatic 9-millimeter Kel-Tec rifle in Connecticut on March 15. The loaded weapon was found in his other car upon his arrest at the airport May 3.

richard.serrano@latimes.com