‘Allah Akhbar’ Attacker Kills 8 In Manhattan Terror Attack
Image by Getty Images
A pickup truck driver who shouted “Allah akhbar” killed eight people and injured more than a dozen others when he drove down a New York City bike path on Tuesday afternoon in what authorities said was a terrorist attack.
The 29-year-old driver was shot by police in the abdomen and taken into custody after he crashed the truck into a school bus and fled his vehicle, New York City Police Commissioner James O’Neill told a news conference.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security called the incident an “apparent act of terrorism.”
Asked at the news conference about reports that the driver shouted “Allahu akhbar” – which is Arabic for “God is greatest” – O’Neill said that a statement made by the suspect when he exited his truck and the general circumstances of the assault led investigators to label the incident a “terrorist event.”
The attack took place at the corner of Chambers Street next to prestigious Stuyvesant High School, which was placed on lockdown.
Five of the victims were Argentinians on a trip to celebrate a school reunion and one was Belgian.
The suspect is Sayfullo Saipov, 29, a legal immigrant from Uzbekistan, according to the Washington Post.
This is a very painful day in our city, but New Yorkers will not be changed by an act of terror. pic.twitter.com/pJWVyihFaW
— Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) October 31, 2017
Why I became the Forward’s editor-in-chief
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
, editor-in-chiefSupport our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
