News reports the 29-year-old suspect in New York City terror attack came to the U.S. from Uzbekistan suggests "there is a possibility he had influences from abroad," former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said Tuesday.
"And associates from abroad," Bharara, whose federal district included Manhattan, told Wolf Blitzer on CNN. "It could be he's a lone wolf.
"But given that he came from another place — and he's been in the country for a period of time, it's just too early to tell," he said.
"Even if some public officials come out and say it's a lone wolf attack, behind closed doors, there will be people, both prosecutors and federal agents, running down every contact that this person had to chase it all down."
Multiple news outlets identified the suspect in the terror attack as Sayfullo Habibullaevic Saipov, 29, from Tampa, Florida.
He came to the United States from Uzbekistan in 2010.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio called the attack "a cowardly act of terror" — and Gov. Andrew Cuomo said it was a lone wolf attack.
In addition, New York City Police Commissioner James O'Neill told reporters at a news conference: "This incident is over."
However, in light of the suspect's birthplace, Bharara said law enforcement will now investigate every aspect of his life.
"I think they will be looking at every connection, to him and every human being, whether in relation to buying the truck," he told Blitzer. "I'm sure they will be pulling the surveillance as well from the area, to see the cased-out location to see if he's visited there before.
"They will be look at toll records and issuing subpoenas around the clock, providing information by telephonic investigation to figure out what his track record was and his associates may have been."
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