Word by Nick Slay
Residents of lower Manhattan are in dismay and shock after eight people were left dead following a deliberate attack by a truck driver earlier today. Based on New York police reports, the driver drove a Home Depot rental truck onto a bike path on West Street, a couple blocks up from Chambers street. After the truck struck down multiple people on the bike path, the vehicle collided with another vehicle on the street.
Witnesses on site saw the truck crashing into a school bus as that other vehicle. Then, the suspect was shot by police while, “displaying imitation firearms” as he left. The suspect, who was firing a BB or pellet gun shouted out “Allah Akbar” as he fired into the busy street, prompted the police to shoot the 29 year old in the abdomen. He was then taken to a local hospital for treatment.
Mayor Bill de Blasio described the event as, “a particularly cowardly act of terror” at a news conference this evening. He went on to say, “We know that this action was intended to break our spirit, but we also know that New Yorkers are strong, New Yorkers are resilient,” Mr DeBlasio said. “We have been tested before as a city, very near where this attack occurred.”
A spokesperson confirmed that the New York mayor and Governor Andrew Cuomo headed down to the scene after it was confirmed there was no longer an active threat. The incident was initially reported as a shooting near Chambers street and the West Side Highway. The scene ended with media footage showing broken bikes strewn along the bike path, bodies on the ground with tire tracks, and people being loaded into ambulances on stretchers. The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force will be taking lead of the investigation. This attack was consistent with a number of other terrorist attacks in recent years using vehicles as weapon, most noticeably Nice, France and London
