Photo Credit: André Gustavo Stumpf via Flickr

There was “no indication of terrorism” in a violent U-Haul truck rampage on Monday morning that left eight people hurt, including an NYPD officer. Two of the injured were listed in critical condition and two others are in serious condition.

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NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell said in a statement later in the day, however, that it does not appear the 62-year-old driver — who was arrested shortly after the incident — was a terrorist.

“At this time, we have no indication that there is any terrorism involvement in this incident,” she said, adding that all of the victims were struck before NYPD officers began their pursuit of the truck.

Police arrested the driver — who fled — after he rammed into multiple victims in at least three different locations in Brooklyn’s Bay Ridge neighborhood.

The suspect allegedly was known to police for a prior incident in 2019 during which he was reported to be emotionally disturbed.

The NYPD bomb squad also arrived on the scene to ensure there were no explosives in the vehicle.

The incident took place at the corner of Columbia Street and Hamilton Avenue.

“This wasn’t an accident,” New York City Councilmember Justin Brannan wrote in a tweet — but it remains unclear whether in fact the incident took place as the result of a “mental illness” situation.

The truck was stopped in the Sunset Park neighborhood near the entrance to the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, on a corner between Red Hook and Carroll Gardens.

8 Dead in NYC Truck Terror Rampage: ‘This Was An Act of Terror’

The death penalty phase begins this week in the trial of Sayfullo Saipov, a radical Islamic terrorist who carried out a vicious ramming attack in November 2017, also carried out with a truck.

At least eight people were killed and 12 others were injured, including one police officer. In the attack, the terrorist drove a white Home Depot rental truck on to a bike path traveling south along the West Side Highway near Houston Street heading towards Chambers Street in Manhattan

There was no information on whether the two events were related.


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Hana Levi Julian is a Middle East news analyst with a degree in Mass Communication and Journalism from Southern Connecticut State University. A past columnist with The Jewish Press and senior editor at Arutz 7, Ms. Julian has written for Babble.com, Chabad.org and other media outlets, in addition to her years working in broadcast journalism.