NEW YORK (AP) — New York City’s mayor says a truck attack in lower Manhattan killed eight people and was a “cowardly” act of terror.
Mayor Bill de Blasio says the attack on a bike path near the World Trade Center “was an act of terror, and a particularly cowardly act of terror aimed at innocent civilians.”
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo called it a “lone wolf” attack. He says there’s no evidence to suggest it was part of a wider plot.
Witnesses described a chaotic scene of a white pickup truck hitting bicyclists on a path near the World Trade Center and then slamming into a school bus.
They say the driver got out of his vehicle brandishing what appeared to be a gun in each hand.
The White House says President Donald Trump has been briefed on the vehicle that drove onto a bike path near the World Trade Center and struck several people.
White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders says the president and New York native has been briefed by White House chief of staff John Kelly and “will be continually updated as more details are known.”
Sanders says, “Our thoughts and prayers are with all those affected.”
Associated Press writer Colleen Long in New York contributed.