Terror in New York
8 dead as truck hurtles down cycle lane and into school bus
AT LEAST eight people were feared dead last night in a suspected terror attack on New York when a truck hurtled down a long stretch of cycling path.
The driver of a rented truck knocked down cyclists, runners and pedestrians before ramming a school bus on the western edge of Lower Manhattan.
Witnesses said it careered the wrong way down the busy West Side Highway, leaving people running and screaming in terror.
The 29-year-old driver, named last night as Sayfullo Saipov, emerged from the vehicle brandishing two firearms, which police later said were paintball and pellet guns.
The New York Police Department said the suspect, an immigrant who lives in Florida, was shot in the abdomen by officers.
Some bystanders had heard him shout ‘Allahu Akbar’ meaning ‘God is great’ in Arabic.
The tragedy, in which at least 11 people received ‘serious but not life-threatening’ injuries, occurred in the Tribeca neighbourhood – near Ground Zero.
Six men were pronounced dead at the scene and two other people died at hospital.
If officially confirmed as a terror attack, it would be the deadliest on New York since the September 11 attacks in 2001. It took place just a few hours before the area’s streets would have been packed by revellers taking part in the annual Halloween parade.
Some saw the driver, described as heavy-built and in his 30s, kneeling calmly on the ground after being shot before officers took him into custody.
Others reported seeing at least two bodies lying on the cycle path nearby surrounded by broken bicycles.
President Donald Trump tweeted last night: ‘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.!’
The investigation was quickly taken over by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Taskforce. Investigators said last night they were not looking for any other suspects.
Laith Bahlouli, 14, a student at nearby Stuyvesant High School said: ‘What happened was there was a car crash, he came out of one of the cars. He had two guns. We thought the guns were fake and it was a Halloween prank.
‘We thought it was a Halloween thing. He started running around the highway. There was another guy in a green shirt that was chasing him around. I heard four to six gunshots – everybody starts running.’ Another witness commented on Twitter: ‘Jesus! A car just ran over 2 people and then crashed into a school bus. I see two dead bodies and bikes on the floor destroyed.’
Mayor Bill de Blasio was heading to the scene last night. He said there was no continuing threat after the suspect was shot and described the attack as a ‘particularly cowardly act of terror’. Meanwhile New York Gov- ernor Andrew Cuomo said the atrocity appeared to be a ‘lone wolf’ attack which was ‘meant to cause death and terror’ and vowed to step up security across the city.
Witness 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!’
Mr 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 heavy-set man pursuing him. Mr Gay reported hearing five or six shots and the man in the tracksuit fell to the ground, gun still raised in the air. He added that a man came over and kicked the gun out of his hand. Uber driver Chen Yi said he saw a truck plough into people on the cycle path. 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,’ he said. His passenger, Dmitry Metlitsky, said he also saw police standing near a man who was on his knees with his hands up, and another man bleeding on the ground nearby.
He said the truck had also collided with a small school bus and one other vehicle. In a statement, the New York Police Department said: ‘A vehicle entered the pedestrian and bike path a few blocks north of Chambers Street. The vehicle struck multiple people on the path. There are several fatalities and numerous people injured. The vehicle continued south striking another vehicle.
‘The suspect exited the vehicle displaying imitation firearms and was shot by officers. The suspect is in custody.’
‘Another attack by a very sick person’