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ISIS Terrorist Shouted 'Allahu Akbar' After Murderous Rampage in New York

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MANHATTAN, New York — New York City remains on high alert as the FBI and police investigate the deadliest terror incident to hit the city since the September 11th attacks.

Investigators say the suspect drove a Home Depot rental truck along a bike path on Manhattan's lower West side Tuesday afternoon, hitting pedestrians and crashing into a school bus.

He killed at least eight people and wounded more than a dozen others, 11 of them seriously injured. The suspect is hospitalized as well after being shot and captured.

Police say the attacker was Sayfullo Saipov, 29, a legal immigrant from Uzbekistan. He had been a commercial truck driver in Ohio, had a Florida driver's license, and had also driven for Uber in New Jersey.

A New York Police Department official says Saipov had pro-ISIS handwritten notes that said the Islamic State will "endure forever."
 
Deputy Commissioner John Miller says Saipov had been planning the attack for weeks, and had "multiple knives" in addition to imitation guns. 
 
He reportedly rented the truck not far from his Paterson, New Jersey home. Then he plowed it along a Manhattan bike and pedestrian path just blocks away from where the Twin Towers once stood, aiming to run over people.

Eyewitnesses say they heard Saipov yelling "Allahu Akbar" as he tried to run away. That's an Islamic phrase which means "Allah is the greatest."

"A whole bunch of people came running past my way, saying, he's got a gun, he's got a gun," one witness said.

Police were able to stop the 29-year-old attacker with a gunshot to the lower part of his hip, as he exited the vehicle after crashing into a school bus. Barely an hour after his deadly rampage, the FBI was able to declare it a terror attack.

President Trump quickly tweeted condolences to the victims and praise for the first responders, also noting, "I have just ordered Homeland Security to step up our already extreme vetting program. being politically correct is fine, but not for this!"

Trump is blaming a specific aspect of the US visa program that allowed Saipov into the country.

"We know this action was intended to break our spirit," New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said."We have been tested before as a city very near the site of today's tragedy. New Yorkers do not give in to these kinds of actions."

In that spirit, the mayor and governor joined thousands on the streets for the annual Halloween parade with added security.

Federal agents and police are now asking witnesses to share any images they have captured, like one cell phone video that shows Saipov limping after getting out of his truck, holding what turned out to be two fake guns. One mother says Saipov pointed the guns at her daughter.  

Saipov is in custody, recovering at New York Hospital, but investigators believe he planned to die.

They recovered a note he left in that Home Depot truck, written in a foreign language, reportedly saying he carried out the attack on behalf of ISIS.

Islamic State terrorists have carried out similar attacks in numerous cities.  England, France, and Germany have seen deadly vehicle attacks in the past year or so.
 
A number of the victims in the Manhattan attack were from other countries. One of the dead was from Belgium, and five others were from Argentina.

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About The Author

Efrem Graham
Efrem
Graham

Efrem Graham is an award-winning journalist who came to CBN News from the ABC-owned and operated station in Toledo, Ohio. His most recent honor came as co-anchor of the newscast that earned the station’s morning news program its first Emmy Award. Efrem was born in Jersey City, New Jersey, but his formal television and journalism career was born across the Hudson River in New York City. He began as an NBC Page and quickly landed opportunities to work behind-the-scenes in local news, network news, entertainment, and the network’s Corporate Communications Department. His work earned him the NBC