The father of a man suspected of planting a series of bombs in New Jersey and New York once told the FBI that he had concerns that his son was a terrorist in 2014.

Mohammad Rahami owns a fried chicken restaurant in Elizabeth, below the family's apartment. His son, Ahmad Rahami, remains hospitalized after undergoing surgery following a shootout with Linden police.

The elder Rahami says he contacted authorities after a 2014 stabbing incident. 

"He was doing bad," the father says. "He stabbed my son. He hit my wife."

An official says the FBI looked into the matter, but that the father later retracted his comment and said he meant that his son was hanging out with the wrong crowd, including gangs. The official who spoke to the Associated Press insisted on anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation.

Ahmad Khan Rahami was arrested for stabbing a person in the leg and possession of a firearm in 2014. But a grand jury declined to indict him, despite a warning from the arresting officer that Rahami was likely "a danger to himself or others."

"They said he's not a terrorist, he's OK," Mohammad Rahami says, describing the conclusion of the 2014 investigation. "Now he's a terrorist." 

Investigators also say the younger Rahami traveled often to his native Afghanistan and Pakistan, where he met his wife. The wife is currently in Pakistan being questioned by authorities.

Investigators are still trying to determine whether the bombings were the work of one person if the suspect had help. They also say they found a notebook in Rahami's possession that had references to other terror attacks.