Police secure the area in Lower Manhattan near where a vehicle drove onto a bicycle path Tuesday afternoon, killing “several people,” according to New York City police.
Don Emmert/AFP/Getty Images
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Don Emmert/AFP/Getty Images
Police secure the area in Lower Manhattan near where a vehicle drove onto a bicycle path Tuesday afternoon, killing “several people,” according to New York City police.
Don Emmert/AFP/Getty Images
Updated at 5:45 p.m. ET
At least eight people were killed and “more than a dozen” were injured Tuesday afternoon after a motorist drove onto a busy pedestrian and bicycle path in Manhattan. Police have arrested one suspect in the incident, which unfolded near the World Trade Center, and say there are “no others outstanding.”
“Based on the information that we have at this moment this was an act of terror, a particularly cowardly act of terror,” New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said at a news conference after visiting the scene.
“The vehicle struck multiple people on the path. There are several fatalities and numerous people injured,” the New York Police Department said in a series of tweets describing the act.
“The vehicle continued south striking another vehicle. The suspect exited the vehicle displaying imitation firearms was shot by NYPD.” Police later said a paintball gun and a pellet gun were recovered at the scene.
The vehicle continued south striking another vehicle. The suspect exited the vehicle displaying imitation firearms was shot by NYPD
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) October 31, 2017
At the moment, there is “no evidence to suggest a wider plot, a wider scheme,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo said at the news conference. He urged the city’s residents not to change their plans: “Be New Yorkers and live your life.”
Police Commissioner James O’Neill described the vehicle as a rented Home Depot pickup truck and said that, after striking people on the bike path, it collided with a school bus, injuring two adults and two children.
One witness described the scene for member station WNYC:
WNYC continues:
“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.”
“Our thoughts and prayers are with all those affected,” said White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who added that chief of staff John Kelly has briefed President Trump on the situation.
This is a developing story. Some things that get reported by the media will later turn out to be wrong. We will focus on reports from police officials and other authorities, credible news outlets and reporters who are at the scene. We will update as the situation develops.