Terror Attack in New York City 

A driver plowed a pickup truck down a crowded bike path in Manhattan on Tuesday afternoon, killing 8 people and injuring 11. Officials say it's the deadliest terrorist attack on New York City since Sept. 11, 2001.

The rampage ended when the driver—identified by police as 29-year-old Sayfullo Saipov—smashed into a school bus, jumped out of his truck, and ran up and down the highway waving a pellet gun and paintball gun. He was shouting “Allahu akbar,” which is Arabic for “God is great.” A police officer then shot Saipov in the abdomen. Saipov was taken to a hospital, where he was listed in critical condition.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio declared the rampage a terrorist attack. Investigators say they discovered handwritten notes in Arabic near the truck that indicated allegiance to the terrorist group ISIS. So far, they view Saipov as someone inspired by ISIS rather than directed by the terrorist organization to act.

Saipov came to the United States from Uzbekistan in 2010. He had a green card that allowed permanent legal residence. He had apparently lived in Paterson, New Jersey, and Tampa, Florida. An official said Saipov rented the truck from a Home Depot in Passaic, New Jersey.

President Donald Trump responded to the attack on Twitter: “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.!”

A few hours later, the president tweeted that he had ordered Homeland Security to further tighten vetting procedures for foreigners entering the United States. (In January, Trump signed an executive order that called for tighter screening of foreigners. The measure, known as “extreme vetting,” was highly controversial at the time.) 

The attack is similiar to one in Nice, France, last summer, in which a man drove a cargo truck into crowds celebrating Bastille Day, killing 85 people.

New York City Mayor de Blasio said at a news conference on Tuesday, “Based on information we have at this moment, this was an act of terror, and a particularly cowardly act of terror aimed at innocent civilians.” New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo cautioned, “There’s no evidence that suggests a wider plot or a wider scheme.” 

Five of the people killed in Tuesday's attack were tourists from Argentina who had traveled to New York to celebrate their 30-year high school reunion. A sixth member of the group of friends was wounded. Belgian officials said one of those killed and three of the injured were from Belgium.

The truck came crashing to a stop near the corner of Chambers and West Streets by Stuyvesant High School. Sirus Minovi, 14, a freshman there who was hanging out with friends, said people scattered.

“We heard people screaming, ‘gun,’ ‘shooter,’ and ‘run away,’” Sirus said. “We thought it was a Halloween prank.”

He realized it was not a joke when he saw the man staggering through the intersection, waving guns and screaming words he could not make out. A passerby approached the attacker, apparently trying to calm him, Sirus said, until the man realized the attacker had a gun. The man “put his hands up and was backing away,” Sirus said.

The attack unfolded as nearby schools were letting out on the afternoon of Halloween. It ended five blocks north of the World Trade Center, the site of the 9/11 terrorist attacks 16 years ago. The driver left a roughly mile-long crime scene.

Saipov was seen in videos running through traffic after the attack with a paintball gun in one hand and a pellet gun in the other. The authorities credited the officer who shot him with saving lives.

For resources on how to talk to kids about tragedy, click here.