*At least six people are dead and 15 cyclists and pedestrians are injured near the West Side Highway in New York City after reportedly being mowed down deliberately by a truck.
CNN, citing three separate sources, says the FBI has now taken over the case and is considering it a terrorist attack after witnesses told police they heard the truck driver yell, “Allahu Akbar.” The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force will now work with the NYPD in the investigation.
Preliminary reports from city officials said they believe this started as a dispute between two drivers with shots fired. A suspect, who was shot in the leg by police, is now in custody at Bellevue Hospital, according to reports.
The incident happened just after 3 p.m. on the bike path that runs along the West Side Highway in Lower Manhattan, about a block north of One World Trade Center.
A witness said a man drove his white pickup truck down the bike lane and ran over multiple people, hitting them from behind. The truck traveled about 10 to 15 blocks before it crashed into a school bus at Chambers and West, the witness said, adding that the vehicle could not move anymore so the suspect got out and started shooting.
According to a spokesman for Mayor Bill de Blasio, the mayor has been briefed on the incident and there is no active threat. He also confirmed that multiple people are injured, possibly struck by a vehicle and also possibly shot.
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