Breaking: Terrorist Attack In Lower Manhattan?

Ken AshfordBreaking News, War on Terrorism/TortureLeave a Comment

Unclear. There is one report saying a box truck plowed into some pedestrians and bicyclists in Tribeca area.

Then there’s this…

That would place it near the World Trade Center memorial

UPDATE 3:43 pm —

NYPD Twitter says one person in custody.

UPDATE 3:56 pm —

Mainstream media starting to pick up the story. Still vague. Some reports suggest driver of truck may have been ramming AND shooting.

UPDATE 4:02 pm — New York Post:

At least two people were fatally shot in Lower Manhattan Tuesday afternoon by a gunman firing from his truck, police sources said.

The gunman, who is in police custody, shot at least six people at West Street and Chambers Street, which is near Stuyvesant High School, at 3:15 p.m.

“What happened was there was a car crash… he came out of one of the cars. He had two guns. He was running around Chambers and somebody started to chase him,” said a 14-year-old Stuyvesant student. “I heard four to six gunshots – everybody starts running.”

Video of the scene shows at least two people lying limp in the street. Photos show a smashed up Home Depot rental truck.

That is the Home Depot rental. AP is reporting that it drove down the bike path, hitting riders and pedestrians, then crashed.

Other reports:

UPDATE — 4:20 pm —

Some reports say six dead. However, only two are confirmed dead.

Another report suggests this might have been a road rage incident, rather than terrorism.

UPDATE: 4:30 pm —

Being Fox News, I take that with a grain of salt.

UPDATE: 4:43 pm —

Official death toll at 6 now.

FBI is taking over the case, so that would suggest this is being treated as a terrorist incident for now.

UPDATE: 5:35pm —

Driver entered bike path at 3:10 PM.

Suspect is 29 years old. This is being treated as a terrorist attack. At least eight are confirmed dead. The suspect had a paintball gun and a pellet gun.

Incredibly, the New York Halloween Parade, which is only blocks away from the incident, and starting at 7:30pm, is going to go forward on what many will see as an act of defiance. There will, of course, be heavily police presence and sand trucks.

Suspect is Sayfullo Habibullaevic Saipov, from Tampa Florida, who came to the US in 2010 from Uzbeckistan. It is thought he had the fake guns because he wanted the police to shoot him and kill him (this getting martyrdom).

LATE UPDATE —

Final toll is 8 dead, 11 injured. Five of the dead were tourists from Argentina celebrating a 30th high school reunion.

Another of the dead was a mother of two children from Belgium. She was on a city trip with her two sisters and her mother, who were unharmed.

Saipov appears to be an “ISIS-inspired” lone wolf.

Trump, ever the coward, politicizes it the following morning, by blaming prominent Democrat:

Trump, of course, didn’t know what he was talking about in asking for getting rid of the Diversity Visa Lottery Program. Republican Jeff Flake responded: