The man accused of plowing
into people on a lower Manhattan bike path Tuesday allegedly was inspired by
ISIS videos he watched on his cellphone, according to the criminal complaint
against him.
"He did this in the name of
ISIS, and along with the other items recovered at the scene was some notes that
further indicate that," John Miller, deputy commissioner of intelligence
and counterterrorism of the NYPD, said this morning of the attack
that killed eight. "He appears to have followed almost exactly to a 'T'
the instructions that ISIS has put out in its social media channels before with
instructions to their followers on how to carry out such an attack."
The suspect was charged
Wednesday with providing support to ISIS and violence and destruction of motor
vehicles.
Here is what we know about
the attack:
-- The suspect, identified as
29-year-old Sayfullo Saipov, was shot in the abdomen by a police officer and
was transported to a hospital for treatment. He has been charged in connection
to the attack and is eligible for the death penalty.
-- Authorities are calling the
incident a terror attack. Saipov is believed to have worked alone, law
enforcement sources said.
-- A handwritten note in Arabic
was recovered from the scene. According to the criminal complaint against
Saipov, it said, "No god but god and Mohamed is his prophet" and "Islamic supplication. It will endure."
-- Investigators have talked to
Saipov, who is expected to survive. It’s unclear what, if anything,
investigators learned from him, though one official told ABC News the suspect
seemed “proud” of the attack.
-- According to the criminal
complaint, Saipov allegedly began planning an attack against the U.S. a year
ago. He was allegedly inspired by ISIS videos he'd watched on his cellphone.
-- Investigators spent the
overnight hours collecting video and still images from traffic and surveillance
cameras along the route of the attack, sources said. Those images show that
Saipov drove carefully and at moderate speed until he entered the jogging path
and accelerated; investigators believe that suggests the suspect knew where he
wanted to begin the attack. Authorities are pouring through toll records and
other digital records to see if Saipov had scoped out the location beforehand,
sources said.
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