Scenes of chaos as truck rams cyclists, school bus
AT LEAST EIGHT KILLED IN TERROR ATTACK IN NEW YORK CITY
NEW YORK— A driver plowed a pickup truck down a crowded bike path along the Hudson River in Manhattan on Tuesday, killing eight people and injuring 11 before being shot by a police officer in what officials are calling the deadliest terrorist attack on New York City since Sept. 11.
The rampage ended when the motorist, whom the police identified as Sayfullo Saipov, 29, smashed into a school bus, jumped out of his truck and ran up and down the highway waving a pellet gun and paintball gun and shouting “Allahu Akbar,” Arabic for “God is great,” before he was shot in the abdomen by an officer. He remained in critical condition on Tuesday evening.
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio declared the incident a terrorist attack and federal law enforcement authorities were leading the investigation. Investigators discovered handwritten notes in Arabic near the truck that indicated allegiance to Daesh, two law enforcement officials said. But investigators had not uncovered evidence of any direct or enabling ties between Saipov and the terrorist group and were treating the episode as a case of an “inspired” attacker, two counterterrorism officials said.
“Based on information we have at this moment, this was an act of terror, and a particularly cowardly act of terror aimed at innocent civilians,” De Blasio said.
Daesh, also known as ISIS or ISIL, has been exhorting followers to mow down people, and England, France and Germany have all seen deadly vehicle attacks recently. 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.
New York City Police Commissioner James O’Neill said a statement the driver made as he got out of the truck and the method of attack led police to conclude it was a terrorist act.
Saipov immigrated to the United States from Uzbekistan in 2010, and had a green card that allowed permanent legal residence. He had apparently lived in Paterson, N.J., and Tampa, Fla. An official said he rented the truck in New Jersey.
Almost immediately, as investigators began to look into Saipov’s history, it became clear he had been on the radar of federal authorities. Three officials said he had come to the federal authorities’ attention as a result of an unrelated investigation, but it was not clear whether that was because he was a friend, an associate or a family member of someone under scrutiny or because he himself had been the focus of a probe.
FBI agents were expected to search Saipov’s home in Paterson and his car, a law enforcement official said. A phone, recovered at the scene of the attack, also would be searched.
The attack unfolded as nearby schools, including Stuyvesant High School, were letting out on a crisp Halloween afternoon. It ended five blocks north of the World Trade Center. The driver left a roughly mile-long crime scene: a tree-lined bike path strewn with bodies, mangled bicycles and bicycle parts, from wheels twisted like pretzels to a dislodged seat.
Five of the people killed were Argentine tourists who travelled to New York for a 30-year high school reunion celebration. A sixth member of the group was wounded. Belgian officials said one of those killed and three of the injured were from Belgium. Global Affairs Canada wasn’t able to confirm by Tuesday night whether any Canadian citizens were among the dead and wounded.
Just after 3 p.m., Saipov wove a deadly path on a stretch usually bustling with commuters, runners and cyclists, drawn by the downtown offices nearby or the shimmering Hudson River.
He turned onto the bike path alongside the West Side Highway at Houston Street and drove south, striking numerous pedestrians and cyclists, many of them in the back. People scattered and dove to the asphalt.
Saipov, a slim, bearded man, was then seen in videos running through traffic with the paintball gun in one hand and the pellet gun in the other. The authorities credited the officer who shot him with saving lives. Six people died at the scene and two others died at a hospital, officials said.
“I saw a lot of blood over there. A lot of people on the ground,” said Chen Yi, an Uber driver.
Sirus Minovi, 14, a freshman at Stuyvesant, was hanging out with friends at the corner of Chambers and West streets when the truck crashed. “We heard people screaming, ‘gun’ ‘shooter’ and ‘run away.’ We thought it was a Halloween prank.”
He said he realized it was not a joke when he saw the man staggering through the intersection, screaming words he could not make out. A passerby approached the attacker, apparently trying to calm him, Minovi said, until the man realized the attacker had a gun and backed away with his hands up.
U.S. President Donald Trump responded to the attack on Twitter: “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.!”
“I have just ordered Homeland Security to step up our already Extreme Vetting Program. Being politically correct is fine, but not for this!,” Trump later tweeted.
It was unclear what specifically Trump was ordering the Department of Homeland Security to do. Officials there referred questions to the White House, which declined to comment beyond a statement issued earlier in the day.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expressed his condolences to the vic- tims in an official statement released Tuesday evening.
“Tonight, we offer our prayers and thoughts to our neighbours in the United States,” it reads. “We are with you, as always, as friends and allies.”
New York City went ahead with its annual Halloween parade amid heavy security following the attack. The parade stepped off Tuesday evening about a mile from where the attack occurred.
Officials said11people were taken to nearby hospitals with serious, but not life-threatening, injuries.