A motorist drove onto a busy bicycle path near the World Trade Center memorial and struck many people.
Eight people have been killed and dozens injured by a truck driver who mowed them down on a bike path in lower Manhattan on Tuesday before getting out of his car screaming ‘allahu akbar.’
The driver made his way from Houston Street down towards Tribeca where he mounted the bike path on the West Side Highway shortly after 3pm a few blocks north of Chambers Street.
After striking several cyclists and runners, he came to a stop when his truck crashed into a school bus beneath the Tribeca bridge.
The man then emerged with imitation guns in his hand and was shot in the leg by police. He survived and was taken to hospital but at least six innocent people were killed and others are injured.
The FBI and NYPD are now treating the incident as an act of terror.
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A driver in a truck mowed down cyclists on the West Side Highway in lower Manhattan before coming to a stop beneath the Tribeca Bridge where they were then gunned down by police as they exited the vehicle. They are alive and in hospital under police supervision but six others have been killed
The scene at a bicycle path on the West Side Highway which the driver is said to have driven down after veering off-road.
The truck mounted the bicycle path on the West Side Highway a few blocks north of Chambers Street in Tribeca in lower Manhattan.
Senior NYPD officials said six people were feared to have been killed by police are yet to publicly confirm the total number of fatalities.
Reuters cited senior law enforcement officials who said the incident was being treated as terrorism.
Singer Josh Groban also tweeted after hearing ‘gun shots’ while out walking his dog.
‘Oh my god I just heard gun shots and ran with my dog. Downtown. F***,’ he said.
Others ran for their lives as they watched the truck plow into pedestrians after veering off the road.
Shocking video footage from the scene showed cyclists lying on the ground with their bikes smashed in to pieces around them. By-passers were seen tending to them as they awaited medical attention.
Shattered bicycles on the West Side Highway bike path where six people are feared to have been killed as they were mowed down.
The truck came to a stop after crashing into a school bus at Chambers Street. It remains at the scene.
A woman is seen being treated by paramedics at the scene of the attack in Tribeca, downtown Manhattan, on Tuesday.
Within minutes of the first reports, there was an enormous police and fire service presence at the site.
Ezequiel Gonzalez, 18, a speech coach at Stuyvesant High School, told DailyMail.com at the scene: ‘I heard what sounded like gas caskets and I went up on the bridge and saw a car caved in. Then I was pushed back and saw the ambulances arriving. The school was put on lockdown.
John Williams, 22, of told DailyMail.com he was there around 30 seconds after the gun shot: ‘I saw one man lying on the ground being looked after by paramedics and cops, another man getting arrested and what seemed like another man running towards the Hudson River.
‘I came out and saw a man holding two guns. I could still smell the gun fire. It was a very strong scent. I was concerned for the safety of everyone because there was someone walking around with a gun.’
Williams said he heard between five and ten gun shots in total.
The scene of a shooting in downtown Manhattan on Tuesday afternoon where two people are feared dead and five are reportedly injured.
NYPD descended on the scene heavily armed. They have one person in custody.
Fire fighters at the scene on Tuesday after reports of the shooting and truck mowing.