Who is New York attack suspect Sayfullo Saipov? Alleged attacker shot by police after Manhattan truck terror
EIGHT people have been killed in a terror attack in New York City after a rented truck ploughed through cyclists and pedestrians in Manhattan.
The suspect, who was shot by police after attempting to flee on foot, has been named as Sayfullo Saipov – here's what we know about him.
Who is Sayfullo Saipov?
Law enforcement officials named Sayfullo Saipov, a 29-year-old from Uzbekistan, as the suspect behind the terror attack in New York City on October 31.
He arrived in the US in 2010 and was a resident of Fort Myers, Florida, working as a truck driver.
He then moved to Paterson, New Jersey, to work as an Uber driver.
A friend of Saipov described him as "very good guy".
Kobiljon Matkarov, 37, a fellow Uzbek, told the: "He was a very good person when I knew him.
“He liked the US. He seemed very lucky, and all the time he was happy and talking like everything is OK. He did not seem like a terrorist, but I did not know him from the inside.”
Online records reportedly show that Saipov has a minor criminal record in Pennsylvania and Missouri, for traffic offences.
The suspect is injured but is expected to live after being shot in the stomach by cops, officials said.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said the attack appeared to be a "lone wolf" incident with no apparent link to a wider terrorist plot.
However, materials and Arabic notes found at the scene suggest the killings were "ISIS-inspired", according to counter-terror cops.
What happened in the New York attack?
Eight people were killed and several wounded in Manhattan when a man in a rented pickup truck ploughed into cyclists and pedestrians in what is being treated as a terror attack.
The suspected driver — Uzbek Uber driver Sayfullo Saipov — allegedly emerged from the vehicle screaming "Allahu Akbar" and brandishing a paintball gun and a pellet gun in each hand before he was shot by police, witnesses say.
Bodies and bikes were left strewn over the ground with people, including children dressed for Halloween at a nearby school, left screaming in panic.
Police say the suspect drove the rented Home Depot truck down a popular cycle lane on the busy West Side Highway, just a few blocks from the new World Trade Center, at just after 3pm local time.
The vehicle crushed cyclists and pedestrians before slamming into a school bus, injuring two adults and two children on board.
The driver then got out of his vehicle waving a fake weapon in each hand and screaming "Allahu Akbar" which means "God is great" in Arabic, according to the .
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