Ashiqul Alam, a resident of Jackson Heights, had been under surveillance and had expressed his intent to attack a public area to an undercover officer. In January 2019, Alam took video of Times Square to identify targets. He initially mentioned using a suicide vest, grenades, or an AR-15 rifle, but by March 2019 he was interested in purchasing two Glock handguns. He was arrested on June 6, 2019 after attempting to purchase the guns from another undercover agent.