The NYPD chief who rocketed to social media stardom after he was recorded vaulting a metal barrier to capture an alleged ISIS-inspired terrorist outside Gracie Mansion said he acted on instinct and that it wasn’t until hours after the arrest that he realized his deadly peril.
Emir Balat, 18, lobbed an improvised explosive device into a crowd of protesters and was about to throw another bomb handed to him by Ibrahim Kayumi, 19, when NYPD Chief Aaron Edwards jumped over a steel barrier and tackled him to the ground in a scene captured on cellphone video.
“A lot of people ask, ‘What was going through your mind? Did you know how serious it was?’ I got to tell you, at the time — no,” Edwards told reporters at 1 Police Plaza on Wednesday. “It was maybe two hours after that it really hits you — this is a lot more serious than we may have initially thought.”
As Edwards chased the suspected terrorist, another of New York’s Finest, Sgt. Luis Navarro, rushed toward the second explosive device dropped by Balat, its lit fuse quickly burning down.
“I saw the device hit the floor and I just ran,” Navarro said. “I knew that I needed to save lives. So I ran toward the people to make sure that nobody got hurt.”
Federal prosecutors say the two Pennsylvania teens were radicalized by ISIS and planned to outdo the Boston Marathon bombers with their homemade devices filled with so-called “Mother of Satan” explosive powder. But the bombs thrown by Kayumi and Balat ultimately did not detonate.
That lucky twist of fate may have spared Edwards from injury, but his wife wasn’t cheering his leap into danger, he said.
“I got into a little trouble at first. When the first picture came out and Sgt. Navarro and myself are a little too close for comfort, the wife did send me a text message. It was that photo and it said, ‘WRONG WAY SIR,’” Edwards related. “We’ve since made amends.”
Edwards recently was promoted to chief of Patrol Borough Manhattan North in December after nearly 23 years as an NYPD officer. He was inspired to become a cop after witnessing the heroism of NYPD officers during 9/11, he said.
Navarro is an 11-year NYPD veteran who, after growing up between Puerto Rico and New York, eventually settled in Washington Heights and the Bronx. He joined the NYPD after a close friend encouraged him to take the exam, he said.
Navarro described the attack as “the most extreme situation I’ve ever encountered.”
“We’d spent six months in the [Police] Academy,” he said. “We’ve done counterterrorism training. Everything that I’ve learned in my career culminated in that one moment. I don’t think anything’s going to top that.”