New York – Terror Attack: Motorist Hits People On Bike Path Near World Trade Center; 8 Dead, 15 Injured

New York – A man in a rented pickup truck drove onto a busy bicycle path near the World Trade Center memorial Tuesday, killing at least eight people and injuring several others in what authorities said may have been a terrorist attack.

The driver was shot by police after jumping out of the truck with what turned out to be a fake gun in each hand, officials said. He was taken into custody. His condition was not immediately disclosed.

Witnesses described a scene of panic and blood, with people screaming in fear and the path strewn with bodies and mangled bicycles.

A police official said the attack was being investigated as a possible act of terrorism. The official was not authorized to discuss the investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Cities around the globe have been on alert against attacks by extremists in vehicle. The Islamic State has been encouraging its followers to mow down people, and Britain, France and Germany have all seen deadly vehicle attacks in recent months and years.

Police said the vehicle, a rented Home Depot truck, entered the bike path on West Street a few blocks from the new World Trade Center and struck at least 15 people. The truck also slammed into a small yellow school bus.

At least two bodies could be seen lying on the path beneath tarps, and the front end of the pickup was smashed in.

Tom Gay, a school photographer, was on Warren Street and heard people saying there was an accident. He went down to West Street and a woman came around the corner shouting, “He has a gun! He has a gun!”

Gay said he stuck his head around the corner and saw a slender man in a blue track suit running southbound on West Street holding a gun. He said there was a heavyset man pursuing him.

He said he heard five or six shots and the man in the tracksuit fell to the ground, gun still raised in the air. He said a man came over and kicked the gun out of his hand.

The attack closed roads across the western edge of Manhattan along the Hudson River and sent uniformed officers rushing to the neighborhood as people prepared for Halloween festivities, including an annual parade through Greenwich Village.

Eugene Duffy, 43, a chef at a waterfront restaurant, said he was crossing West Street when he heard something, turned back and saw the white pickup on the bike path.

After seeing the mangled bikes, he ran south, seeing the school bus that appeared to have been T-boned, and officers at the scene, guns drawn, ducked behind patrol cars.

“So many police came and they didn’t know what was happening,” Duffy said. “People were screaming. Females were screaming at the top of their lungs.”

Uber driver Chen Yi said he saw a truck plow into people on a popular bike path adjacent to the West Side Highway. He said he then heard seven to eight shots and then police pointing a gun at a man kneeling on the pavement.

“I saw a lot of blood over there. A lot of people on the ground,” Yi said.

Video footage of the school bus showed its right side bashed in, and firefighters surrounding it as they worked to free children inside.

The White House said President Donald Trump was briefed on the attack.

A Chasidic driver for the Flink Jewish messenger service passed by the scene just moments after the carnage occurred. The driver, who identified himself only as Yossi, said that he stopped his vehicle on the southbound lanes of the highway near Houston Street and got out to see if he could help.

“I called 911 the second I stepped out of my car but they didn’t know anything about it,” Yossi told VIN News.

Looking around, Yossi saw people laying on the ground in the bike lanes with good Samaritans performing CPR.

“There was a guy next to my truck, he wasn’t allowed to be moved because he had something stuck in his head,” said Yossi. “On the right, further down, there was someone who wasn’t responding but they were still doing CPR. Other people looked like they just had minor bruises.”

Within a few minutes a passing police officer stopped to help, with rescue teams arriving to the area approximately five minutes later.

“There were tons of cops rolling down the West Side Highway and emergency crews and everything,” reported Yossi.

Not having any experience in first aid that would enable him to help the injured, Yossi returned to his truck which was still parked on the highway.

“At first I thought there were only four people injured but as I was leaving I looked to my right and I saw a lot more,” said Yossi. “There were people on the ground and people doing CPR on them.”

Attempting to continue his journey to Brooklyn, Yossi turned onto the northbound lanes of the West Side Highway in an attempt to reach the east side of Manhattan. Heading uptown, he saw police cars driving directly towards him, traveling south in the northbound lanes to circumvent the traffic that had already begun to build up in the area.

Nearly an hour after leaving the scene, Yossi said he was still in shock.

“I have been driving the West Side Highway for the last three and a half years and I have seen accidents, rolled over cars and fights,” said Yossi. “This is Manhattan and you see it all, but this time something told me that something big was happening.”

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