Bike path rampage: What we know about the suspect

WABC logo
Tuesday, October 31, 2017
At least 4 hurt in West Side Highway incident
Eyewitness News is covering breaking news in Lower Manhattan

LOWER MANHATTAN, New York City -- Details are emerging about the suspect who police say mowed down pedestrians in the bike lane of the West Side Highway in what is being investigated as a terror attack.

Multiple law enforcement officials tell ABC News that the suspect in custody is identified as 29-year-old Sayfullo Saipov, who had a driver's license from Tampa, Florida.

Authorities believe he rented a white pickup truck from Home Depot and drove it into the bicycle path along the West Side Highway at Houston Street at 3:05 p.m. Police say he drove southbound, striking several pedestrians and bicyclists, before crashing into a school bus at Chambers Street, injuring two adults and two children.

He then exited the vehicle brandishing a paintball gun and a pellet gun and was shot by a police officer and taken into custody.

This photo shows him in police custody following the incident:

Authorities say he came to the United States seven years ago from Uzbekistan under what is called the Diversity Visa Program, which offers a lottery for people from countries with few immigrants in America. Sources tell ABC News that in addition to an address in Tampa, he also lived in Ohio and most recently, in Paterson, New Jersey.

Eyewitness News obtained video taken by a Stuyvesant High School student that shows the driver running erratically around in the street, in between passing cars, dressed in dark clothing and carrying the weapons.

RELATED: Witnesses describe terrifying scene after West Side Highway incident

Report a typo to the ABC13 staff

Copyright © 2024 WABC-TV. All Rights Reserved.