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Several people dead in New York City bike path 'terror attack'

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New York: Eight people were killed when a man drove a utility vehicle down a bike path next to the Hudson River in Lower Manhattan on Tuesday afternoon local time, before he jumped out with two fake guns and was shot by police officers.

Federal authorities were treating the incident as a terrorist attack, a senior law enforcement official said.

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Sayfullo Saipov, the 29-year-old New York attack suspect, is seen running down the street after he allegedly ran over cyclists and pedestrians in a utility vehicle.

Two law enforcement officials said that after the attacker got out of the truck, he was heard yelling, "Allahu Akbar," Arabic for "God is greatest".

The attacker, in a rented Home Depot ute, hit numerous pedestrians and cyclists as he drove as many as 20 blocks south on the bike path, officials said. 

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The suspect has been identified as 29-year-old Sayfullo Saipov by two law enforcement officials, Associated Press reports.

Saipov is reportedly an Uzbek national who has been in the US since 2010. He lived in Tampa, Florida and Ohio at different times and has a history of minor traffic violations.

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Two law enforcement officials said that investigators discovered handwritten notes in Arabic inside the truck that indicated allegiance to Islamic State.

Saipov underwent surgery after being shot by police and was expected to survive, meaning investigators will likely have a chance to question him about his motive for the attack, but so far, they said, he appeared to have been a "lone wolf" suspect - someone who acted alone after being inspired, but not directly instructed, by the Islamic State.

He had been living in Paterson, New Jersey, before the attack, and rented the vehicle in that state before driving it into Manhattan, officials said.

Five friends from Argentina and a woman from Belgium are among those killed in the attack. 

The compatriots, from the city of Rosario in central Argentina, were celebrating the 30th anniversary of their graduation.

A statement from the ministry said it passed on its deepest condolences following the deaths of Hernan Diego Mendoza, Diego Enrique Angelini, Alejandro Damian Pagnucco, Ariel Erlij and Hernan Ferruchi.

A sixth Argentinian man with the group named as Martin Ludovico Marro was being treated at the Presbyterian hospital in Manhattan, the ministry added.

Three more Belgians were also injured - a mother, father and child from the same family and are undergoing surgery, Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders told news agency Belga.

Eleven people were transported to hospital with serious, but not life-threatening injuries. 

The ute eventually collided with a school bus, injuring two adults and two children. After the collision, the driver of the ute got out of the vehicle brandishing what appeared to be two guns.

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Eight people dead in New York City bike path 'terror attack'

A local uniformed police officer confronted the driver and shot him in the abdomen, police said.

A paintball gun and pellet gun were recovered at the scene.

It was the greatest loss of life from a suspected terrorist attack in New York since suicide hijackers crashed jetliners into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre on September 11, 2001, killing more than 2600 people.

Governor Andrew Cuomo said the suspect appeared to have acted alone.

"There's no evidence to suggest a wider plot or a wider scheme. These are the actions of one individual meant to cause pain and harm and probably death," Cuomo said at a news conference.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said that, based on the information they had, "this was an act of terror around a particularly cowardly act of terror, aimed at innocent civilians".

Commissioner O'Neill said the motivation of the attack woiuld form part of the investigation jointly conducted by the New York Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

"Look at the [modus operandi] of the attack, and he made a statement when he exited vehicle which suggests it was a terror attack," he said.

Witnesses described gunshots ringing out, people scrambling for cover and a street strewn with bodies and crumpled bicycles.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said President Donald Trump had been briefed by White House chief of staff John Kelly and "will be continually updated as more details are known".

The President tweeted three times in the hours following the attack:

The motorist hit numerous people as nearby Stuyvesant High School was letting out for the day, officials said. 

Students at the high school, one of the city's elite public schools, reported that they saw a man shooting from a ute, and then saw the vehicle turn and strike a school bus.

Ramon Cruz, 27, said he saw a man crash his white ute and emerge from the vehicle at Chambers and West Streets.

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Cruz said the front of the ute was smashed and the driver appeared injured. Then Cruz said he heard someone yell, "he's got a gun, run, run!"

Police officers, including the bomb squad, responded to the scene and several nearby buildings, including Stuyvesant, were placed on lockdown, with those inside told to take shelter.

The Fire Department said officials responded just after 3pm, local time, to reports of a mass casualty at Chambers and West Streets.

- with agencies

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