Eight people confirmed dead following “act of terror” in New York

Eight people have been confirmed dead after a man in a rented pickup truck struck civilians after driving onto a cycle path in New York on Tuesday afternoon.

Speaking in the aftermath of the attack, New York mayor Bill de Blasio described it as an “act of terror”. "This was an act of terror, and a particularly cowardly act of terror aimed at innocent civilians," he said. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SNoEQMgA4w Six people were pronounced dead at the scene of the incident, near the West Side Highway in Lower Manhattan, close to the World Trade Center, after the vehicle ploughed into several civilians and also a school bus. Two people were later pronounced dead at a nearby hospital, while at least 11 serious injuries were also reported, although the injuries are not believed to be life-threatening. The driver of the vehicle, a 29-year old male, was branding a paintball gun and a pellet gun and was shot in the abdomen by a NYPD police officer and transported to a local hospital. https://twitter.com/NYPDnews/status/925457785613144064 https://twitter.com/NYPDnews/status/925457925858037761 https://twitter.com/NYPDnews/status/925458135430713346 https://twitter.com/NYPDnews/status/925458304385642497 US President Donald Trump described the man responsible for the attack as a "very sick and deranged person" in a tweet posted on Tuesday afternoon. https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/925474979914887168