(VIDEO & PHOTOS IN EXTENDED ARTICLE)
A speeding white Home Depot pickup truck drove onto a busy bicycle path near the World Trade Center memorial in Lower Manhattan Tuesday, striking at least 15 people. The driver then emerged from the vehicle screaming “Allahu Akbar” and firing from what appeared to be a gun he brandished in each hand.
Sources tell YWN that the rented truck mounted the curb on the West Side Highway near Houston Street on Tuesday afternoon at 3:05PM, leaving behind several mangled bodies and bikes scattered on the bike path.
The driver then barreled along the bike path for the equivalent of about 14 blocks, or around eight-tenths of a mile, then slammed into multiple vehicles near Chambers Street, including a school bus carrying two adults and two children, and was brought into a stop. The suspect was shot and taken into custody. Police recovered two firearms, a paintball-style gun and a pellet gun.
Police did not reveal the suspect identity, other than that he is a 29-year-old male. Multiple sources have identified him as Sayfullo Saipov, from Uzbekistan and came to the U.S. in 2010. He has a Tampa, Florida issued driver’s license but may have been staying in New Jersey.
Witnesses described a scene of panic and blood, with people screaming in fear and the path strewn with mangled bicycles and bodies that was soon covered with sheets. In addition to those killed, 11 people were seriously injured, police said. One Police officer was lightly injured, and was taken to Bellvue Hospital. Police shut the West Side Highway and FDR Drive to enable speedy transportation of the victims.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo called it a “lone wolf” attack and said there was no evidence to suggest it was part of a wider plot.
Cities around the globe have been on alert against attacks by extremists in vehicles. ISIS has been encouraging its followers to mow down people, and England, France and Germany have all seen deadly vehicle attacks in recent months and years.
“This was an act of terror, and a particularly cowardly act of terror aimed at innocent civilians,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said.
Tom Gay, a school photographer, was on Warren Street and heard people saying there was an accident. He went down to West Street and a woman came around the corner shouting, “He has a gun! He has a gun!”
Gay said he stuck his head around the corner and saw a slender man in a blue track suit running southbound on West Street holding a gun. He said there was a heavyset man pursuing him.
He said he heard five or six shots and the man in the tracksuit fell to the ground, gun still raised in the air. He said a man came over and kicked the gun out of his hand.
The attack closed roads across the western edge of Manhattan along the Hudson River and sent uniformed officers rushing to the neighborhood as people prepared for Halloween festivities, including an annual parade through Greenwich Village.
Eugene Duffy, 43, a chef at a waterfront restaurant, said he was crossing West Street when he heard something, turned back and saw the white pickup on the bike path.
After seeing the mangled bikes, he ran south, seeing the school bus that appeared to have been T-boned, and officers at the scene, guns drawn, ducked behind patrol cars.
“So many police came and they didn’t know what was happening,” Duffy said. “People were screaming. Females were screaming at the top of their lungs.”
Uber driver Chen Yi said he saw a truck plow into people on a popular bike path adjacent to the West Side Highway. He said he then heard seven to eight shots and then police pointing a gun at a man kneeling on the pavement.
“I saw a lot of blood over there. A lot of people on the ground,” Yi said.
Video footage of the school bus showed its right side bashed in, and firefighters surrounding it as they worked to free children inside.
The White House said President Donald Trump was briefed on the attack.
In NYC, looks like another attack by a very sick and deranged person. Law enforcement is following this closely. NOT IN THE U.S.A.!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 31, 2017
Asked about that at a news conference, New York City Police Commissioner James O’Neill replied: “Yeah. He did make a statement when he exited the vehicle.” He said the statement and the method of attack led police to conclude it was a terrorist act.
On Twitter, President Donald Trump called it “another attack by a very sick and deranged person” and declared, “NOT IN THE U.S.A.”
BREAKING NEWS: Box Truck Mows Down Several Pedestrians In Manhattan | Here’s What We Know – https://t.co/mzvV2F3f8g pic.twitter.com/gCwS5KgT5q
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) October 31, 2017
BREAKING IMAGE: One body lays covered in Lower Manhattan…. pic.twitter.com/byLvltLuCq
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) October 31, 2017
BREAKING: New photo appears to show Manhattan attacker being taken into custody alive – https://t.co/mzvV2F3f8g pic.twitter.com/T8oW0oOJZX
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) October 31, 2017
BREAKING: Eyewitness Video Appears To Show Suspect In Deadly Manhattan Attack pic.twitter.com/hkHJidG40s
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) October 31, 2017
NEW: CBS News obtains photo of Sayfullo Saipov, suspect in NYC terror attack – https://t.co/mzvV2F3f8g pic.twitter.com/4iBIM7eFpX
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) October 31, 2017
UPDATE: Suspect In Manhattan Truck Attack Also Rammed School Bus; Up To 6 People Dead – https://t.co/mzvV2F3f8g pic.twitter.com/8HpTrGQWjn
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) October 31, 2017
(AP / YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
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8 Responses
Just because a man jumps out of a vehicle having plowed into innocents screaming “Allahu Akbar” and firing what appeared to be a gun, doesn’t mean he is actually a member of the great peace loving religion of Islam. He may have been a Zionist agent seeking to blacken the name of the followers of the pedophile prophet.
What a shame that he wasn’t killed on the spot. Now he will be in prison and consume taxpayer money for many many years to come
Time to daven and don’t stop davening… I mean cry and beg mercy from HaShem!
Cuomo lost any trace of support I could have ever had for him. We have a signature act of terror, a Middle Eastern man, shouts of Allahu Akhbar, corpses still warm, and Cuomo “knows” this is a lone wolf? How does he know that? was it already investigated? Or is he taking the logical stretches to appease some of the Muslims who swarm around Democrats? This statement is both stupid and completely irresponsible. i was never a fan of this governor, but I now will join opposition against him. Typical to most Democrats, he places politics before logic, reality, or morality. He’s done by me. I wish him a speedy retirement.
I think the government should ban truck rentals from home depot. Make it illegal to ride bicycles in nyc and make it illegal for pedestrians to walk on city streets. That should take care of lots of future issues. Oh, and of course take away guns from law abiding citizens.
nice beard
maybe hes peleg?
BREAKING NEWS: A rental pickup truck plows into pedestrians and cyclists on a Manhattan bicycle path killing 8 and wounding around a dozen others. That was the headlines I’ve been hearing all day, only later when they go into the details do they say it was a person and maybe they will throw in the word terrorist once in awhile. When’s the last time you saw a vehicle kill someone? I’m not sure who’s more sick the terrorist or the Fake News MSM who are to scared to mention the word terrorist because they are afraid they will offend some people. This is sick!
I’m “Totally surprised and shocked” to hear that it was a Muslim, after all when was the last time we heard someone form that religion do something like that?