ISIS link suspected
Eight people were killed and a dozen injured after a man in a rented pickup truck ploughed through a bicycle path near the World Trade Center in Manhattan, New York last evening.
NYPD stated that the attacker then jumped out of the truck with firearms and was shot in the stomach by an officer. Following this, the suspect was arrested and is currently undergoing surgery, which he is expected to survive.
The incident is being investigated as terrorism, officials said, after a note found near the rented truck claims that the attack was made in the name of ISIS. Many witnesses also reported the suspect yelling “Allahu Akbar” during the attack.
The lone wolf suspect has now been identified as 29-year-old Sayfullo Saipov, who is an Uzbek citizen who came to the US in 2010. At the time of his arrest, he is believed to have been carrying a Florida ID card.
“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.”
Following this, Donald Trump has ordered the Department of Homeland Security to step up its “extreme vetting program”. Trump later tweeted: “We must not allow ISIS to return, or enter, our country after defeating them in the Middle East and elsewhere. Enough!”
Prime Minister Theresa May also said she was “appalled by this cowardly attack, my thoughts are with all affected. Together we will defeat the evil of terrorism”.
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