A driver plowed a pickup truck down a crowded bike path in Manhattan on Tuesday afternoon, killing 8 people and injuring at least 12 in what officials are calling the deadliest terrorist attack on New York City since Sept. 11, 2001.
The rampage ended when the driver—identified by police as 29-year-old Sayfullo Saipov—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.” A police officer then shot Saipov in the abdomen. Saipov was taken to a hospital, where he was listed in critical condition.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio declared the rampage a terrorist attack, and federal law enforcement authorities were leading the investigation. Investigators say they discovered handwritten notes in Arabic near the truck that indicated allegiance to the Islamic State, the terrorist group also known as ISIS. But investigators had not uncovered evidence of any direct ties between Saipov and ISIS. So far, they view Saipov as someone inspired by ISIS rather than directed by the terrorist organization to act, two counterterrorism officials said.
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, New Jersey, and Tampa, Florida. An official said Saipov rented the truck from a Home Depot in Passaic, New Jersey.
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.!”
A few hours later, the president tweeted that he had ordered Homeland Security to further tighten vetting procedures for foreigners entering the United States. In a move that was highly controversial at the time, Trump signed an executive order in January that called for tighter screening of foreigners; the measure is known as “extreme vetting.”
The attack highlights the damage a vehicle can do in a crowded city if a driver decides to plow into pedestrians. This method has been a favorite of the terrorist group ISIS, which has published instructions online for how to carry this out. Last summer, there was a similar terrorist attack in Nice, France, in which a man drove a cargo truck into crowds celebrating Bastille Day, killing 85 people.
Mayor de Blasio said at a news conference on Tuesday, “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.” New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo cautioned, “There’s no evidence that suggests a wider plot or a wider scheme.”