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<p>NEW YORK &#8212; A man in a rented pickup truck drove onto a busy bicycle path near the World Trade Center memorial Tuesday, killing at least eight people and injuring several others in what the mayor called &#8220;a particularly cowardly act of terror.&#8221;</p><p>The driver, 29, was shot by police after jumping out of the truck with what turned out to be a fake gun in each hand, officials said. He was taken into custody; his condition was not immediately disclosed.</p><p>Witnesses described a scene of panic and blood, with people screaming in fear and the path strewn with bodies and mangled bicycles.</p><p>Cities around the globe have been on alert against attacks by extremists in vehicles. The Islamic State has been encouraging its followers to mow down people, and Britain, France and Germany all have seen deadly vehicle attacks in recent months and years.</p><p>In New York City, police said the vehicle, a rented Home Depot truck, entered the bike path on West Street a few blocks from the new World Trade Center and mowed down several people. The truck also slammed into a small yellow school bus, injuring two adults and two children.</p><p>A paintball gun and a pellet gun were found at the scene, police said.</p><p>&#8220;This was an act of terror, and a particularly cowardly act of terror aimed at innocent civilians,&#8221; Mayor Bill de Blasio said.</p><p>At least two bodies could be seen lying on the path beneath tarps, and the front end of the pickup was smashed in.</p><p>Tom Gay, a school photographer, was on Warren Street and heard people saying there was an accident. He went to West Street, and a woman came around the corner shouting, &#8220;He has a gun! He has a gun!&#8221;</p><p>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 heavy-set man pursuing him.</p><p>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.</p><p>The attack closed roads across the western edge of Manhattan along the Hudson River and sent uniformed officers rushing to the neighborhood as people prepared for Halloween festivities, including an annual parade through Greenwich Village.</p><p>Eugene Duffy, 43, a chef at a waterfront restaurant, said he was crossing West Street when he heard something, turned back and saw the white pickup on the bike path.</p><p>After seeing the mangled bikes, he ran south, seeing the school bus that appeared to have been T-boned, and officers at the scene, guns drawn, ducked behind patrol cars.</p><p>&#8220;So many police came, and they didn&#8217;t know what was happening,&#8221; Duffy said. &#8220;People were screaming. Females were screaming at the top of their lungs.&#8221;</p><p>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.</p><p>&#8220;I saw a lot of blood over there. A lot of people on the ground,&#8221; Yi said.</p><p>The White House said President Donald Trump was briefed on the attack.</p><style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/web1_NYC1-1-1-4.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">A New York Police Department officer stands next to a body covered under a white sheet near a mangled bike along a bike path Tuesday in New York City. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/web1_NYC1-1-1-4.jpg</photo0><caption0>A New York Police Department officer stands next to a body covered under a white sheet near a mangled bike along a bike path Tuesday in New York City. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)</caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/web1_NYC-4.jpg">
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<div class="neCaption">In this still image taken from video, police and emergency personnel respond to reports of gunfire a few blocks from the World Trade Center in New York City on Tuesday. (AP Photo)</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/web1_NYC1-2-1-4.jpg</photo3><caption3>In this still image taken from video, police and emergency personnel respond to reports of gunfire a few blocks from the World Trade Center in New York City on Tuesday. (AP Photo)</caption3><photoCredit3></photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/web1_NYC-3-1-.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Police tape rests on a damaged Home Depot truck after a motorist drove it onto a bike path near the World Trade Center memorial, striking and killing eight people on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/web1_NYC-3-1-.jpg</photo4><caption4>Police tape rests on a damaged Home Depot truck after a motorist drove it onto a bike path near the World Trade Center memorial, striking and killing eight people on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)</caption4><photoCredit4></photoCredit4></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>Associated Press</p></bylineMeta></div>

UPDATE: 8 killed by motorist in New York City in ‘cowardly act of terror’