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Breaking News: First, fatal New York terrorist attack since 9/11 in Manhattan Soho which was blocks away from where the Twin Towers stood. There were 8 fatalities and 11 injured. The eight deaths are people who were run over.
“It was a brisk bicycle ride on a beautiful fall day in Manhattan Soho. They were on their bikes along the waves of water near the shoreline with the ubiquitous breeze blowing on their faces. Taking in some sun. The smiles. The laughter. They were there to attend a high school reunion. Along the bike path, nearby mothers were pushing their children in their strollers. Schools were letting out the children to return home. And one crazed radicalized Islamic terrorist in a rented Home Depot truck entered from the west side plowing down a mile long path with pure evil in his mind running over and killing 8 people and seriously injuring others. ” ~ Natalie
Update November 1: Suspect Sayfullo Saipov followed ISIS attacks playbook to a “T”. He also had planned this terrorist attack for weeks. The terrorist was radicalized domestically. Notes and knives the suspect left behind were recovered from the Home Depot truck indicating the suspect did do this for ISIS. Students in the nearby schools unfortunately did see the victims that were dead or injured on the ground. Saipov was a driver for Uber.
During this mornings news conference, officials indicated there were lots of red flags that were missed, possibly preventing this attack from happening. The suspect used his mobile device for weeks. He was planning, speaking and communicating with people. He purchased goods and rented the Home Depot truck.
“How could intelligence agents have not picked this up with weeks of planning.” said baffled Judge Napolitano. When the NSA, supposably exists for our safety. It was information overload that didn’t pick up the red flags. The suspect has ties to other individuals who investigative officials were tracking. If this is true, these individuals might have known they were being tracked and chose an unknown source to carry out the attack.
President Trump said, “We are immediately terminating the Diversity Visa Lottery Program which the terrorist used to get into the US. We want a merit based program, where people come into our country based on their merit. And also, we will get rid of chain migration, where the terrorist was a point of contact and 23 more people came into the states. President Trump said,”That’s not acceptable.””
In the Manhattan Soho area, there are bike paths in the south and north directions. This horrible scene took place not far from the World Trade Center where the new Freedom building was built replacing the Twin Towers.
Police first responded to the commotion and the wreckage of two vehicles involved in this horrific attack. First responders and police found multiple victims on this chilly and windy afternoon who were run over along this bike path. Police shot at the suspect twice, who was carrying two hand guns. The FBI arrived on the scene and is now involved investigating this case. This now appears to be a deliberate terrorist attack.
Witnesses heard a loud bang and then they heard shots being fired. One witness said, he was coming out of work and saw a white truck run over two people. He went to help these people but they were dead.
Initially, it was reported that there was a fight that started between two drivers. The driver in the Home Depot truck hit multiple pedestrians entering on the west side and plowing down south killing and injuring those on the bike path. Then the suspect crashed into another vehicle. The lone wolf terrorist existed out of the rental Home Depot pickup truck screaming “Alla Akbar”. A Police officer in the area immediately shot at the suspect, shooting him in the abdomen. The suspect has been identified as 29 year old Sayfullo Saipov who rented the Home Depot pickup truck in New Jersey.
Saipov came to the United States from Uzbekistan in March, 2010 and had a green card that allowed permanent legal residence. He had lived in Paterson, NJ and Tampa, FL.
For a brief, but terribly frightening moment, people in the surrounding area started screaming, running and really not understanding what exactly was going on but instinctively knew they were in some kind of danger as the truck plowed down the bike path. Mothers with their children in strollers started to run. The attack took near a school; Stuyvesant High School. Students were let out on this crisp Halloween afternoon with no inclination about what was about to unfold. This horrific scene ended five blocks north of the World Trade Center. The driver plowed down roughly a mile-long path leaving a horrible crime scene. On a normally beautiful fall afternoon on a tree-lined bike path, bodies and mangled bicycles were strewn leaving a frightening scene that has frequently occurred in the UK and Nice, France.
It was reported by the Mayor’s office at 3:40 ET, “There is no active threat at this time.”
There is a level one trauma center close by in the Bellevue area for those people who were injured where they can receive life saving medical attention.
These were innocent people enjoying a beautiful fall day in the Manhattan. Police Chief recounted,
“At 3:05 pm ET, a male driving a rented Home Depot pickup truck entered the west side highway bicycle path at Houston St began driving southbound striking a number of pedestrians and bicyclists along the route. At Chambers St., the truck collided with a school bus injuring two adults and two children. After the collision, the driver of the truck, a 29 year old male exited the vehicle with two hand guns. A uniformed Police officer assigned to the first precinct, confronted the subject and shot him in the abdomen. The subject was wounded and transported to a local hospital. A paint ball and pellet gun were recovered at the scene. Subject’s identity wasn’t being released at that time.”
The FBI Department is also looking for this person and asking people to come forward if they see this person.
We extend our deepest condolences to the families of those who were killed and those injured in senseless act of terrorism.