Phoenix Suns hotel just blocks from New York City attack
Oct 31, 2017, 2:30 PM | Updated: Nov 1, 2017, 11:15 am
Authorities respond near a damaged school bus Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2017, in New York. A motorist drove onto a busy bicycle path near the World Trade Center memorial and struck several people on Tuesday police and witnesses said. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)
(AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)
PHOENIX — The Phoenix Suns were staying just blocks from the area where a man allegedly drove down a protected bike lane and slammed into cyclists, killing at least eight people.
Forward Jared Dudley tweeted the team was staying close by less than two hours after the incident near Chambers and West streets, just blocks from some of Manhattan’s most popular tourist sites.
2 blocks from our hotel 🙏🏾 https://t.co/DJuN5btoZG
— Jared Dudley (@JaredDudley619) October 31, 2017
Team spokeswoman Julie Fie said everyone was safe. The Suns were scheduled to take on the Brooklyn Nets at 4:30 p.m. Arizona time.
The attack was allegedly carried out by a 29-year-old Sayfullo Saipov. He was in custody.
Police said the suspect — who was carrying a pellet and paintball guns — was shot by officers.
The incident was being investigated as a possible terror attack.
According to an Associated Press report, authorities believe Saipov is from Uzbekistan and came to the U.S. legally in 2010. He has a Florida driver’s license but may have been staying in New Jersey, the report said.
The report said the driver barreled along the bike path in a rented Home Depot truck for the equivalent of about 14 blocks, or around eight-tenths of a mile, before slamming into a small yellow school bus. The mayhem and the burst of police gunfire set off panic in the neighborhood and left the pavement strewn with mangled bicycles and bodies that were soon covered with sheets.
BREAKING: Law enforcement official tells the AP that man who drove truck on NYC bike path, killing eight, shouted "Allahu akbar"
— The Associated Press (@AP) October 31, 2017
A man who was riding in an Uber along the West Side Highway near Chambers Street said he saw several bleeding people on the ground after the truck struck several people. Another witness said the truck had also collided with a small bus and one other vehicle.
Tom Gay, a school photographer, was on Warren Street and heard people saying there was an accident. He went down to West Street and a woman came around the corner shouting, “He has a gun! He has a gun!”
Gay said he stuck his head around the corner and saw a slender man in a blue track suit running southbound on West Street holding a gun. He said there was a heavyset man pursuing him.
He said he heard five or six shots and the man in the tracksuit fell to the ground, gun still raised in the air. He said a man came over and kicked the gun out of his hand.
Uber driver Chen Yi said he saw a truck plow into people on a popular bike path adjacent to the West Side Highway. He said he then heard seven to eight shots and then police pointing a gun at a man kneeling on the pavement.
“I saw a lot of blood over there. A lot of people on the ground,” Yi said.
His passenger, Dmitry Metlitsky, said he also saw police standing near a man who was on his knees with his hands up, and another man bleeding on the ground nearby.
Both New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio went to the scene. President Donald Trump was briefed on the situation.
In NYC, looks like another attack by a very sick and deranged person. Law enforcement is following this closely. NOT IN THE U.S.A.!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 31, 2017
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
