8 Dead as Truck Careens Down Bike Path in Manhattan in Terror Attack


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, 2001.

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 the officer. He remained in critical condition on Tuesday evening.

Mayor Bill de Blasio declared the rampage 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 the Islamic State, two law enforcement officials said. But investigators had not uncovered evidence of any direct or enabling ties between Mr. Saipov and ISIS and were treating the episode as a case of an “inspired” attacker, two counterterrorism officials said.

Mr. de Blasio said at a news conference, “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.”

The names of the victims had not been released by Tuesday night. The Belgian and Argentine governments said their citizens were among the victims.

Mr. Saipov came 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 from a Home Depot in New Jersey.


The truck came crashing to a stop near the corner of Chambers and West Streets by Stuyvesant High School. Sirus Minovi, 14, a freshman there who was hanging out with friends, said people scattered.

“We heard people screaming, ‘gun’ ‘shooter’ and ‘run away,’” Mr. Minovi said. “We thought it was a Halloween prank.”

He realized it was not a joke when he saw the man staggering through the intersection, waving guns and screaming words he could not make out. A passer-by approached the attacker, apparently trying to calm him, Mr. Minovi said, until the man realized the attacker had a gun. The man “put his hands up and was backing away,” Mr. Minovi said.

Almost immediately, as investigators began to look into Mr. Saipov’s history, it became clear that 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 an investigation.

Over the last two years, a terrorism investigation by the F.B.I., the Department of Homeland Security, the New York Police Department and federal prosecutors in Brooklyn resulted in charges against five men from Uzbekistan and one from Kazakhstan of providing material support to ISIS. Several of the men have pleaded guilty. It is unclear whether Mr. Saipov was connected with that investigation.

Martin Feely, a spokesman for the New York F.B.I. office, declined to comment on whether Mr. Saipov was known to the bureau.

GRAPHIC
The Trail of Terror in the Manhattan Truck Attack
A man drove a truck for a mile down a bike path in Lower Manhattan, killing cyclists and pedestrians and then hitting a school bus.


F.B.I. agents were expected to search Mr. Saipov’s home in Paterson, N.J., and his car on Tuesday night, a law enforcement official said. A phone, which was recovered at the scene of the attack, also would be searched, another official said.

The attack unfolded as nearby schools 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.

Mr. Saipov, a slim, bearded man, was seen in videos running through traffic after the attack with a paintball gun in one hand and a pellet gun in the other. Six people died at the scene and two others died at a hospital, officials said. The authorities credited the officer who shot him with saving lives.

“He was Johnny-on-the-spot and he takes the guy down,” a city official said.
Coming five months after a car rammed into pedestrians in Times Square, killing one, Tuesday’s attack again highlighted the danger of a vehicle attack on busy city streets. The Times Square attack was not an act of terrorism.
    But both events brought to mind the terrorist attack last year in Nice, France, in which a cargo truck killed scores of people celebrating Bastille Day.

The episodes also evoked calls from terrorist magazines, including in an edition of Rumiyah, a magazine used by ISIS, for attackers to mow down pedestrians with trucks, continue the attacks with a knife or a gun and claim responsibility by shouting or leaving leaflets.
Students in Halloween costumes streamed out of nearby schools after lockdowns were lifted and huddled with parents. Their faces, once painted for the holiday, were streaked with tears.

Emily, 12, a seventh-grader at I.S. 289 whose father asked that her last name not be used, had been walking on her usual route home when other students turned and ran in the other direction.
“All the kids were screaming, ‘Run!’, ‘Gun!’ ‘Run inside,’” she said, still wearing cat ears. She said mothers pushing strollers and children in costumes ran in a herd back toward the school.
President 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.!”
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo cautioned at a news conference, “There’s no evidence that suggests a wider plot or a wider scheme.” In the aftermath, city and state law enforcement agencies increased 
security at high-profile locations.
Terrorism analysts noted that on Monday a French pro-ISIS media unit, known as the Centre Mediatique An-Nur, put out a specific threat for Halloween, mentioning the date on a banner spread on the encrypted app Telegram and on ISIS-affiliated Twitter accounts.
Mr. Saipov wove a deadly path on a stretch usually bustling with commuters, runners and cyclists, drawn by the downtown offices nearby or the shimmering river.
He turned onto the bike path alongside the West Side Highway at Houston Street just after 3 p.m. and sped south, striking numerous pedestrians and cyclists, many of them in the back, the authorities said. People scattered and dived to the asphalt.

The truck, labeled with a sign saying, “Rent me starting at $19,” rammed into the bus near Chambers Street. The bus serves two schools in Lower Manhattan and transports students with special needs. Two adults and two children on the bus were injured, the authorities said.

By: +Matthews Martins 

Comments

  1. Guess if the vegas shooter would have yelled this they would finally call it terrorism

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  2. Allah just means God in Arabic, Christian Arabs call God allah, so why are people blaming Muslims? He could be christian or even neither just maniac.

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  3. The summary of this divisive article: Confirming you MUST be Muslim and shooting a gun to be labeled a terrorist. The Vegas shooter was 100% immune to that label because he's caucasian and not Muslim. Thankfully we are all not blind to the cause of unnecessary controversial topics we love to waste our time on.

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  4. Let's not glorify the terrorist networks and give them more power. Just because someone says Allah Akbar does not mean he belongs to a network. He is a lunatic like the guy in Las Vegas. And the Mayor of NY is calling it a "lone wolf" act.

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  5. The only available heuristic so far is the word “Arabic” and for the unfortunate and uncritical media consumer will instantly associate negative stereotypes surrounding Arabic to you guessed it: terrorism. Though, this incident is indeed an act of terror as lives were lost and fear was present but the Vegas incident was so hesitant to approach this word which we , the more critical reader, decided to call it exactly what it is, terrorism. It’s crucial to know what we consume. There it is folks, right in front of out eyes is how media decides to emphasize one phrase. We must think for ourselves and not let others do the thinking for us. It’s an unfortunate moment for everyone affected.

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  6. I wonder if the Vegas shooter was saying the same thing, as he fired off hundreds of rounds. Oh wait, he was white and mentally ill.

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  7. The majority of people on this post are insane. Most of them would probably continue to bring in refugees from dangerous Mideast countries. Some even want to blame Trump for this incident. How did so many people become mentally ill?

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  8. Sorry but this is our new way of life. We must protect our citizens and all others that come to our city's historic displays of unity. We appreciate our governor and mayor that has kept us safe but these times of turmoil are very difficult to control. It Is a shame that people cannot live in harmony What is terrorism ?!? Fear war or what??? Explain.

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  9. Trump needs this & the odds are that Trump, Putin, or the Trump Russian sympathizers (agents, traitors, & mobsters) here in the US are behind it.

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  10. 29 yr old self made terrorist with paintball gun and pellet gun hiding behind a big truck to mow innocent people over >> looks staged to me to create fear in light of ongoing arrests. Just doesn't seem right.

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  11. Funny how yesterday indictments came out against the former white house staff, and today a "terrorist attack", great distraction and body count....attack a little too coincidental..... collateral damage......don't believe this wasn't a set up to distract from the white house oroblems.....

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  12. So... uhh... do most of you just play identity politics all day? The evidence points to terrorism in this case because it appears to have been religiously motivated. All the evidence in the Vegas shooting pointed to absolutely no motivation (unless something has changed).

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  13. If the man committed this atrocity is so certain that “God is great,” then he will not mind meeting God’s punishment for this act. He will probably be born back into the type of family with distorted religious views and lack of good fortune to match, offering every opportunity in the world to sink deeper into the erroneous and perpetuate this awful cycle of delusion.

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  14. Instead of labeling it terror or not and blaming ‘that other (insert religion, race, party)’, let’s just call it what it is - murder. We’re being set up to hate each other. I refuse to be baited by those who wish us to fail as a nation. E pluribus unum.

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  15. When Trump takes on the extremist Muslim leaders in the world I'll be grateful that MY leader isn't an extremely conservative warmongering chauvinistic dictator supported by religious fundamentalists, surrounded by like minded people, who picks on minority groups in his country, uses the fear and threat of danger to take away his people's rights, has multiple wives, lives surrounded by gold, has a strange covering on his head, and rose to power without winning a popular vote.

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  16. I knew the NYT readers were liberal but I didn't expect the number of terrorist apologetics I'm reading here. Please leave the USA. We don't want you.

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  17. The bike path killings in NY are no doubt a tragedy in their own right, but this is not an isolated incident that can be blamed solely on foreign terrorists. People on bikes in this country have been subjected to domestic acts of terror by fellow Americans who feel that because you're not driving a car it's OK to threaten violence or actually physically attack you with their death machine. This is a shared ideology by a large group of Americans who act it out on a daily basis, which is why hundreds are killed each year and many perpetrators get a mere slap on the wrist, if that.

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  18. So....If the Vegas shooter or any other similar Joe Bob Jones had yelled Allah Akbar it would have THEN been an act of terror??? Come on now!

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  19. It’s not time to blame any religion, non of religion guide you to go against humanity.. in spite of them stay strong and do pray for the victims,,, keep three words in mind #human #humanity #humanitarian

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  20. We opened our doors way too wide long ago. We are no longer land of the free...but we are still brave. I hope the NYPD messes this guy up.

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  21. Amazing that CNN took a few minutes out from attacking Trump to report on the NY incident. I'm sure that if he had been denied rental of the Home Depot truck, both CNN and NYT would be scream outrage over Uzebekestan "racial profiling". Could this be why Home depot didn't raise an eyebrow about the rental...repurcussions? I wonder who will pay the $19.00 an hour rental for the truck???

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  22. Three nations were added to the list of countries whose citizens will face the restrictions: Chad, North Korea and Venezuela — although the restrictions on Venezuela are narrowly crafted, targeting that country’s leaders and their family members and Saudi Arabia has unveiled women to go to America but they are still the source of radicalization in the Islamic world

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  23. Home Depot, huge trump supporters, it's a distraction from the indictments, another republican induced mass murder....

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