By EVAN ALDO
Police and witnesses say a man deliberately drove a rented truck onto a busy bicycle path near the World Trade Center in Manhattan which killed eight people and injured at least 12 others.
The man later got out of the truck waved around a fake gun before being shot by police. He was wounded and taken into custody.
“This was an act of terror, and a particularly cowardly act of terror aimed at innocent civilians. It was a very painful day in our city,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio.
This was the deadliest act of terror in New York City since 9/11.
The suspect was identified by law enforcement as Sayfullo Habibullaevic Saipov, a 29-year-old truck driver from New Jersey and Florida. He immigrated to the U.S. from Uzbekistan in 2010.
A federal law enforcement source said a note had been found inside the truck that was in reference to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
Saipov does not appear to have an extensive criminal background, according to the FBI and the NYPD. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said the attack appeared to be a “lone wolf” incident with no links to a wider terrorist plot.
The incident occurred at West Street and Chambers Street at 3:05 p.m. The truck drove down a bike path for about four blocks and stuck cyclists and pedestrians before moving back into traffic lanes and striking a school bus.
The media should pay very close attention to the fact that this attack occurred without the use of any firearms. Lately the media has been giving a lot of attention towards the possibly of banning firearms to increase safety. However, I believe that they do not realize that there are many other ways that criminals commit murder.
This incident shows that even without a gun, a person can murder multiple people at the same time. Firearms aided the police in this situation. They wound the man with their firearms and stop him from creating anymore havoc.
If firearms are banned, I believe that terrorists will find other ways commit mass murder. As seen in Nice, France last year, a trunk ran over and killed 86 people. This was more than the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history last month that killed 58 people.
Media should report these facts accordingly and point out the fact that this incident shows banning guns will not solve the occurrence of mass murders.