Shaya Henderson, who lives on the same block as Ahmed's Ashburn address, said Ahmed has a wife and child who she hasn't seen all day. The neighborhood, she said, "is abuzz" about the news.

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The idea that he was a terrorist "would never have occurred to me," she said, adding that she didn't know Ahmed very well.

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority's immediately made a statement on the arrest.

"We want to assure our riders and employees that at no time was the public in danger during this investigation," part of the statement reads. "The FBI was aware of Mr. Ahmed’s activities from before the alleged attempt began and closely monitored him until his arrest."

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs struck a similar tone.

"This is another important example of work by the FBI, by all levels of our law enforcement and by our national security team to keep this country safe. Those groups have been on top of this case from the beginning and at no point was the public in any danger," he said.

However, the Post reported this afternoon that contacted late Tuesday, Metro Transit Police Chief Michael Taborn said he had not heard anything about the investigation or the plot.

"Oh, is that right? he said when asked. "I hadn't heard anything about it," Taborn told the Post.

Pressed on the matter today at a news conference, the chief said only: "At the time that the investigation centered around the Metrorail system we were made aware of that" and repeatedly said Metro is represented on the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force. He told reporters who asked when Metro knew an arrest in the case was imminent to direct their questions to the FBI.

The Post first reported the story at 2 p.m., just as Ahmed's hearing was beginning.