Brooklyn U-Haul truck rampage leaves 1 dead, 7 injured; driver in custody
NEW YORK - A U-Haul truck hit several pedestrians while leading the NYPD on a chase in Brooklyn on Monday morning. One person was killed and seven people were injured at two locations. One of the injured was an NYPD officer, who sustained injuries to his leg and is in stable condition.
The first pedestrians were hit in the area of Bay Ridge Parkway near 5th Ave. in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.
The NYPD tried to stop the truck, but the driver kept driving.
Security video showed the truck hit one person who was on a motorbike in the middle of the street and then drive up onto the sidewalk as an NYPD vehicle chased the truck. One person on the sidewalk had to dive out of the way of the truck.
Police officers chased the truck approximately 3 miles before they were able to block the U-Haul in at the corner of Columbia St. and Hamilton Ave. The driver was taken into custody there.
The Associated Press spoke to the driver's son, who identified him as Weng Sor, 62, a troubled man with a history of harmful behavior and stints behind bars.
The victims of the violent rampage are 8 men ranging in age from 30 to 66 years old. The deceased victim, a 44-year-old man, stained head injuries and was rushed to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Brooklyn City Councilman Justin Brannon said that several victims were being treated at NYU Langone in Brooklyn.
"We have no indication that there is any terrorism involvement with this incident," Police Commissioner Keechant L. Sewell said at a news conference. She declined to name the suspect.
A spokesperson said that New York City Mayor Eric Adams had been briefed.
"There are no additional credible threats at this time," Fabien Levy tweeted.
There was a large NYPD presence at seven different crime scenes and several streets in the area were blocked off. People were being urged to avoid the area.
The NYPD was inspecting what the truck was carrying.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul said she had also been briefed on the incident.
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Police stopped the truck near the entrance to a tunnel leading from Brooklyn to Manhattan. The incident coincided with the start of the death penalty phase in the trial of Sayfullo Saipov, an Islamic extremist who killed eight people on Halloween in 2017 by mowing them down with a truck on a Manhattan bike and pedestrian path. He said he was inspired by his reverence for the Islamic State militant group. He was convicted last month in federal court in Manhattan.
Police do not believe the two events were related.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.