NYC bike path rampage: What we know about the suspect

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Wednesday, November 1, 2017
Questions about Lower Manhattan bike path rampage location, info on suspect
Jim Hoffer reports on the suspect and location of the bike path rampage.

NEW YORK CITY -- Details are emerging about the suspect who police say mowed down pedestrians in the bike lane of the West Side Highway in what is being investigated as a terror attack in Lower Manhattan.

Multiple law enforcement officials tell ABC News that the suspect in custody is identified as 29-year-old Sayfullo Habibullaevic Saipov, who had a driver's license from Tampa, Florida.

Authorities believe he rented a white pickup truck from Home Depot and drove it into the bicycle path on West Street, along the West Side Highway, entering at Houston Street at 3:05 p.m. Police say he drove southbound, striking several pedestrians and bicyclists, before crashing into a school bus at Chambers Street, injuring two adults and two children.

He then exited the vehicle brandishing a paintball gun and a pellet gun and was shot by a police officer and taken into custody.

This photo shows him in police custody following the incident:

Authorities say he came to the United States seven years ago from Uzbekistan under what is called the Diversity Visa Program, which offers a lottery for people from countries with few immigrants in America. Sources tell ABC News that in addition to an address in Tampa, he also lived in Ohio and most recently, in Paterson, New Jersey, where he lived with his wife and three children, according to a law enforcement official.

Here's a look at his address listed in Tampa, where reporters scoped out following Tuesday's attack:

He was also the registered statutory agent for a pair of Ohio-based trucking companies: Sayf Motors Inc. in Cincinnati, and Bright Auto LLC in Cuyahoga Falls. It is believed he rented the truck at a Home Depot in Passaic.

Uber confirmed that Saipov had worked as an Uber driver, and the company said he had passed a background check but has since been banned from the app.

"We are horrified by this senseless act of violence," an Uber spokesperson said in a statement. "Our hearts are with the victims and their families. We have reached out to law enforcement to provide our full assistance."

ABC7 sister station WABC-TV obtained video taken by a Stuyvesant High School student that shows the driver running erratically around in the street, in between passing cars, dressed in dark clothing and carrying the weapons.