Updated | New York terror attack: Eight dead after truck ploughs into pedestrians

According to the governor, Sayfullo Habibullaevic Saipov from Uzbekistan was 'radicalised domestically'

(Photo: CNN)
(Photo: CNN)


Eight people were killed and almost a dozen injured when a 29-year-old man in a rented pick-up truck drove down a busy bicycle path near the World Trade Centre on Tuesday in Manhattan, New York City.

The suspect was identified by two law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation as Sayfullo Habibullaevic Saipov from Uzbekistan in Central Asia but had been living in the US since 2010.

A senior law enforcement officer was reported by CNN that a note written in English was found in the truck that said the attack, which unfolded around 3pm on Halloween, was done in the name of ISIS.

"This was an act of terror, and a particularly cowardly act of terror," New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said, "aimed at innocent civilians, aimed at people going about their lives who had no idea what was about to hit them."

 A photograph from the St Charles county police department shows Sayfullo Saipov, the man suspected of killing eight people in New York. (Photo: St. Charles County Police Depart/AFP/Getty Images)
A photograph from the St Charles county police department shows Sayfullo Saipov, the man suspected of killing eight people in New York. (Photo: St. Charles County Police Depart/AFP/Getty Images)

The incident is being investigated as terrorism, officials said. Witnesses reported the suspect was yelling "Allahu Akbar," according to four law enforcement sources. The FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force is taking over the lead of the investigation.

Vehicles have been used as weapons in a number of terrorist attacks in recent years, including in deadly incidents in London and Nice, France.

The suspect, who rented a Home Depot rental truck, hopped onto a pavement at West Houston Street and drove south on the bike path on the west side of West Side Highway in lower Manhattan for several blocks, officials said.

After crashing the truck into a school bus, the suspect exited the vehicle while displaying imitation firearms and was shot in the abdomen by a police officer, according to the NYPD.

A pellet gun and a paintball gun were recovered from the scene, officials said.

Just after the incident, news footage showed several mangled bicycles on the popular bike path as medics tended to the wounded in the background.

(Photo: CNN)
(Photo: CNN)
(Photo: CNN)
(Photo: CNN)
(Photo: CNN)
(Photo: CNN)

Six people were declared dead at the scene and two were pronounced dead at the hospital. At lease 11 others were transported to the hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries. Five of those killed were Argentinians, a group of friends celebrating the 30th anniversary of graduates of the Polytechnic School in their hometown, the country's Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.

A spokesman for Home Depot confirmed one of the company's rental trucks was part of an incident in lower Manhattan and said the company is "cooperating with authorities" in the investigation.

The suspect had multiple interactions with law enforcement in several states, online records show. Saipov had traffic citations issued in Missouri and Pennsylvania.

He was arrested by the Missouri State Highway Patrol in October 2016 after a warrant was issued when he failed to show in court for a misdemeanour offence. He paid a $200 bond, which he forfeited when he didn't show up in court for his next hearing in November. A guilty plea was entered on his behalf.