Who is Sayfullo Saipov?
NEW YORK (FOX 5 NEWS) - A man drove a rented truck into pedestrians and cyclists in Lower Manhattan Tuesday, killing eight people and wounding at least 11 before being shot and wounded by an NYPD cop.
The suspect in custody has been identified as Sayfullo Saipov, 29. He lives in Paterson, New Jersey, just steps from a mosque that is believed to have been under NYPD surveillance for possible terror connections during the Bloomberg administration.
He lived in a two-bedroom apartment with his wife and two children.
On Wednesday, Fox 5 News cited unnamed sources as saying that Saipov had 41 possible "associates" who lived in and around New York City and that law enforcement was investigating all of those leads. Fox 5 News also reported that one of those people is currently the subject of another law enforcement investigation and had contact with Saipov in the hours before the attack.
At a Wednesday news conference, New York City officials said that Saipov had planned the attack over a period of weeks using ISIS-constructed plans.
Saipov rented a U-Haul truck across the Hudson River in New Jersey just an hour before the attack. A handwritten note that essentially said the Islamic State will "endure forever" was found at the scene, according to law enforcement personnel.
Originally from Uzebekistan, Saipov entered the United States legally in 2010 under a diversity visa program, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
This is what else we know about Saipov:
- He has a Florida driver's license and may have once lived in an apartment in Tampa.
- Recently, he moved to Paterson, New Jersey.
- He was arrested in 2016 in Missouri for failing to pay a traffic citation.
- He had an image of the ISIS flag inside the rented truck.
- He was employed as an Uber driver.
- Saipov apparently had no public digital footprint but authorities will continue their search.
Records show Saipov was a commercial truck driver who formed a pair of businesses in Ohio.
The first business, Sayf Motors Inc., used the address of a family friend near Cincinnati with whom Saipov had stayed for a couple of weeks after his arrival in the country. The second, Bright Auto LLC, used an address near Cleveland.
A trucking industry website listed Saipov at a Paterson, New Jersey, address that authorities were searching Tuesday night. Court records related to trucking-related infractions list Saipov with addresses in Paterson and the Cleveland suburbs.
According to the records, a warrant was issued for Saipov's arrest in April 2016 when he missed a hearing on a misdemeanor for not having the right brakes on his vehicle. He resolved the case in November 2016 by pleading guilty and paying $200 in fines and court costs.
With the Associated Press