The man believed to be responsible for the explosion in Manhattan on Saturday night and an earlier bombing in New Jersey, Ahmad Khan Rahami, was taken into custody and charged with attempted murder on Monday after he was wounded in a gunfight with the police, US media has reported.

Ahmad Khan Rahami, 28, was wounded in the drama, along with two officers, according to FBI special agent William Sweeney at a news conference held after the arrest.

Rahami was charged with seven counts of attempted murder, including five counts relating to the attempted murder of a policeman.

Bail was set at US$5.2 million (A$6.9 million).

The New York Times says Rahami was loaded onto a stretcher and taken away in an ambulance, blood pouring from a wound in his shoulder, and hands cuffed behind his back.

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The NYPD and FBI had appealed for assistance late Monday night (AEST) in finding 28-year-old Afghanistan-born Rahami for questioning over the explosion that injured 29 people.

A mobile phone alert was issued to millions of residents in the area warning he was armed and dangerous.

A resident spotted him late at night sleeping in the doorway of a bar.

The officer was shot in the abdomen, but the bullet struck his vest.

Captain Sarnicki said he then fled, and shots were fired
indiscriminately at vehicles.

During the ensuing chase Rahami was shot multiple times and another officer was injured.

Police issued a wanted notice after matching a fingerprint on one of the pressure cooker bombs in Manhattan. They also trawled through video surveillance.

NY, NJ Bombing Suspect in Custody After Shootout with Police: Ahmad Rahami was taken into custody after a gun… https://t.co/uYAJkUTHxA

— NewsRadio 570 WSYR (@WSYRNews) September 19, 2016

Having played down links between the bombings and the discovery of explosives across the greater New York metropolitan area, authorities later confirmed Rahami was being sought in connection to both incidents.

Governor Andrew Cuomo, who said on Sunday the attack did not appear to have a link to international terrorism, said new evidence might change that thinking.

Earlier explosion as robot moves in

One of the devices found in Elizabeth, believed to be pipe bombs, exploded when a bomb squad robot tried to disarm it.

The discovery came a day after an explosion in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighbourhood injured 29 people, and an unexploded pressure-cooker device was found four blocks away.

Christian Bollwage, mayor of Elizabeth, New Jersey, said on Sunday local time that two men called police and reported seeing wires and a pipe coming out of the bag after finding it in a rubbish bin.

There was no immediate report of injuries or damage.

Five suspicious devices have been discovered in New Jersey, with one exploding during attempts to disarm it https://t.co/uhMmPdkLI5

— Sky News (@SkyNews) September 19, 2016

Also on Saturday, a pipe bomb exploded about an hour from the Elizabeth train station in Seaside Park, New Jersey, forcing the cancellation of a military charity run.

Officials said it didn’t appear that those two incidents were connected, though they weren’t ruling anything out.

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Bollwage said he wasn’t willing to say that Elizabeth had become a target, and that it was possible that someone worried about the authorities was trying to get rid of the package.

“I’m extremely concerned for the residents of the community, but more importantly extremely concerned for everyone in the state and country where someone can just go and drop a backpack into a garbage can that has multiple explosives in it with no timers and then you have to wonder how many people could have been hurt,” Bollwage said.

FBI detains Manhattan bomb suspects

Agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation are questioning five suspects as part of an investigation into Saturday night’s Manhattan bombing.

The FBI says a car was pulled over on a highway in Brooklyn and the vehicle’s occupants were detained.

Agents stopped “a vehicle of interest in the investigation” at 8:45pm on Sunday, FBI spokeswoman Kelly Langmesser said.

FBI agents at the scene of Saturday night’s explosion in Manhattan. Photo: Getty

Ms Langmesser would not provide further details, but a government official and a law enforcement official who were briefed on the investigation said five people in the car were being questioned at an FBI building in lower Manhattan.

No one has been charged with any crime and the investigation is continuing, Mr Langmesser said.

The bomb that rocked a bustling Manhattan neighbourhood contained residue of Tannerite, an explosive often used for target practice that can be picked up in many sporting goods stores, a federal law enforcement official said, as authorities tried to unravel who planted the device and why.

An unexploded pressure cooker device was also found in Manhattan.  Photo: CNN

Governor Andrew Cuomo, touring the site of the blast in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighbourhood, known for its vibrant arts scene and large gay community, said there didn’t appear to be any link to international terrorism. He said the second device appeared “similar in design” to the first, but did not provide details.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio called the blast on Saturday an “intentional act”, but said there was no terrorist connection.

– with AP