By Olivia Kingree
Eight people were killed and at least a dozen more injured in a terrorist attack last week when a man drove down a bike path in lower Manhattan hitting bikers, pedestrians and a school bus. Sayfullo Saipov, a 29-year-old Uzbek man living in New Jersey, drove a rented Home Depot pickup truck approximately 10 blocks down the bike path. A note inside of the truck stated that the attack was committed in support of ISIS.
The attack occurred around the time when students were leaving schools in the area.
According to NBC, after an apparently deliberate crash into a school bus, the driver screamed “Allahu Akbar” then left the truck carrying what resembled two real guns, but were actually a pellet and paint gun. He was then shot by a New York Police Department officer.
In response to the attack, President Trump tweeted, “In NYC, looks like another attack by a very sick and deranged person. Law enforcement is following this closely. NOT IN THE U.S.A.!”
The victims included a group of five friends from Argentina who were visiting New York City to celebrate their 30 year high school reunion.
On Twitter, Argentine President Mauricio Macri wrote that he was “deeply moved by the tragic deaths … in NY. We put ourselves at the disposition of the families of the Argentinian victims.”
According to CNN, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said that this was “a particularly cowardly act of terror” which was “aimed at innocent civilians, aimed at people going about their lives who had no idea what was about to hit them.”
Genevieve Windbiel (‘20), a New York City native, said that the attack initially affected her personally as she feared for “certain people I hadn’t heard from.” She also recalled that a mother she knew was planning to hide information about the attack from her children.
“I would say every time there’s a new attack it puts everyone on edge,” said Jordan Aussicker (‘20), “no matter who commits the killing or how far away it happens. The aftermath of the attacks always means that in the days following you’re wary of how close airplanes fly to the ground, what’s in the bag you see by the bench, and if the lockdown drills at your little sister’s school that day might not be a drill this time. That no matter if the attack is continents away or in your own backyard it still affects each and every one of us.”
