BIKE PATH BLOODBATH
Terrorist kills 8 in death drive near WTC Screams ‘Allahu akbar’ amid carnage Cop shoots and cuffs ISIS-loving fanatic
A TRUCK-DRIVING terrorist carved a mile-long path of carnage through lower Manhattan, killing eight innocents Tuesday as he plowed down helpless victims on a bike path.
The rented white pickup hopped the curb at W. Houston with ISIS-inspired suspect Sayfullo Saipov drawing a bead on bicyclists as screams filled the Halloween skies and blood stained the pavement.
“God is Great!” The Uzbekistan native shouted in Arabic before a hero cop pumped a bullet into his abdomen, ending the deadly assault on a bright holiday afternoon.
Authorities said he was hospitalized after the shooting, underwent surgery and was expected to survive.
A note written by Saipov in Arabic and discovered outside the rental vehicle declared he was loyal to the ISIS cause, sources told the Daily News.
Eleven more victims, including two schoolkids whose bus was struck by the killer’s Home Depot truck, were injured in what authorities described as the deadliest New York City terrorist attack since 9/11. The dead included tourists visiting from Belgium and Argentina, officials said.
A witness described Saipov, 29, as picking off two men riding Citi Bikes about 50 feet apart on the busy stretch used by riders, pedestrians and joggers just off the Hudson River.
Crumpled two-wheelers and victims with tire treads on their bodies were left in the homicidal wake of the “lone wolf” attacker. Cops placed blankets over the corpses as the injured were rushed to hospitals.
A child was seen sitting on the lap of an adult in a neck brace in the calm after the horror.
“This was an act of terror,” declared Mayor de Blasio at a somber news conference at police headquarters. “And a particularly cowardly act of terror, aimed at innocent civilians.”
The deadly incident was reminiscent of similar terrorist car attacks in London, Barcelona and Berlin, all committed in the last two years. The FBI has joined the NYPD in investigating the attack.
A Uber spokeswoman said Saipov also drove for the popular ride-sharing company, which is cooperating with authorities.
The spokeswoman said Saipov passed a background check.
“We are horrified by this senseless act of violence,” a company statement said. “Our hearts are with the victims and their families.”
Saipov, a Tampa resident who kept a Paterson, N.J., address, pulled off the highway around 3:05 p.m., heading south on the bike path that runs parallel to West St.
“I heard a truck, a car, something going down the bike path,” said witness Eugene Duffy, 44. “It was wrong.”
The off-duty chef watched in disbelief as the driver of the speeding truck ran down a pair of bicyclists from behind, catching and crushing both beneath the wheels of his truck.
“I thought it was terrorism,” Duffy said. “That’s the first thing that crossed my
mind.”
Six male bikers were dead at the scene, while two other victims died later at Manhattan hospitals.
“The dead and injured were just going about their days, getting home from work or from school or enjoying the afternoon sun while on bicycles,” NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill said. “This is a tragedy of the greatest magnitude.”
The truck slammed into a school bus near Stuyvesant High School on Chambers St. Two staff members and two students were injured in the wreck, with one of the kids listed in critical condition.
“We have multiple people on the ground from Chambers all the way up to Houston,” a 911 operator declared, according to police radio traffic reviewed by The News. “I got at least four or five people on the ground, we need (ambulances).”
A horde of police vehicles and first responders descended on the chaotic scene.
With the Home Depot rental truck’s front end crushed, Saipov emerged from the crippled vehicle waving a paintball gun and a pellet gun as terrified onlookers sprinted for cover.
Officer Ryan Nash arrived and ordered Saipov to drop the weapons. When the mass killer refused, the gutsy Nash shot him in the abdomen to end the killing spree. The officer, assigned to the 1st Precinct, was treated for tinnitus after taking the suspect down, a police source said.
Nash was in the area answering a call at nearby Stuyvesant High School, and rushed out to challenge the terrorist after hearing about the attack.
Saipov came to the U.S. in 2010, and appeared to be in the country legally, sources told The News. Port Authority police were still scouring video feeds at the HollandTunnel to see if that was the terrorist’s point of entry into the city.
“I heard screaming in my truck as I approached that area,” said Port Authority Police Officer Evangelo Mageros, one of the first cops on the scene, who was helping an injured victim.
“She was complaining that she couldn’t feel any part of her body. She was laying down on the pavement. Her bicycle was mangled. One of my guys raced over with oxygen. I told her everything was going to be OK. She told me, ‘Please don’t let me die.’ How do you respond to that?” Authorities said the truck was rented from a Home Depot in Passaic, N.J., within two hours of the attack. Home Depot, in a statement, said they were cooperating fully with the investigation.
The truck was labeled with a sign that said, “Rent me starting at $19.”
Cops also secured a warrant for an address in Paterson, where the suspect lives with his wife and small children.
Gov. Cuomo referenced previous terror attacks on the city — which include the February 1993 bombing where the attacker also used a truck rented in New Jersey. Six people were killed in that attack.
“The truth is New York is an international symbol of freedom and democracy,” said Cuomo. “That’s what we are, and we are proud of it. That also makes us a target for those people who oppose those concepts. And we’ve lived with this before . . . . But we go forward together. And we go forward stronger than ever.”
Some Stuyvesant High School students were convinced the whole thing was a holiday prank until they heard the officer’s gunshots.
“I thought it was a Halloween (prank) or something,” said witness Tawhid Kabir, 20, of Queens. “I saw the guy running in a circle and I realized it was serious.”
NYPD snipers took positions on the roof of the nearby City Vineyard restaurant as cops flooded the neighborhood. Police also sealed off a wide swath of the area north of the World Trade Center.
President Trump was also brought up to speed on the rampage.
“My thoughts, condolences and prayers to the victims and families of the New York City terrorist attack,” he tweeted. “God and your country are with you!”
Trump also tweeted that the Homeland Security Department would “step up our already Extreme Vetting Program.”