A man driving a U-Haul truck in New York City’s Brooklyn borough struck eight people while attempting to evade police before officers stopped the careening vehicle and arrested him, the city’s police commissioner said on Monday.
The “violent rampage” through the Bay Ridge neighborhood left eight people injured, including an officer, Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell told a news conference on Monday afternoon, standing in front of the intersection where the truck came to a stop.
Two people are in critical condition, two are in serious condition and four sustained minor injuries, she said.
Shortly after the arrest, Justin Brannan, a city council member who represents the area, told NY1 that the incident “seemed random but was obviously on purpose.”
“This driver knew what he was doing, knew that he was hitting people,” Brannan said, adding that when the driver was pulled over, he told police, “I want to die.”
A video clip aired on WABC-TV showed a truck narrowly missing a pedestrian on a sidewalk, with a police cruiser in pursuit. The pedestrian had to jump out of the truck’s path to avoid a collision.
The incident occurred on the same day that a federal jury began weighing whether to impose the death penalty on Sayfullo Saipov, the extremist who intentionally drove a truck down a New York City bike path in 2017, killing eight people.
Police did not suggest any connection.
“At this time, we have no indication that there is any terrorism involvement in this incident,” Sewell said.
Both Mayor Eric Adams and Governor Kathy Hochul have been briefed on the incident.
