Suspect in custody in NYC after lone-wolf truck attack

JUDY WOODRUFF: At least eight people are dead
and 11 or more injured in Lower Manhattan today after a rented pickup truck plowed into
a busy bicycle path. The incident happened a few blocks away from
the World Trade Center Memorial site. The New York City Police Department reported
that a 29-year-old male suspect was taken into custody. Mayor Bill de Blasio said they were increasing
security in the area, and he urged people to be vigilant.

BILL DE BLASIO (D), Mayor of New York: Based
on the information we have at this moment, this was an act of terror, and a particularly
cowardly act of terror, aimed at innocent civilians, aimed at people going about their
lives, who had no idea what was about to hit them. JUDY WOODRUFF: For the very latest, we turn
to special correspondent Marcia Biggs in Manhattan. Marcia, what do we know about what happened? MARCIA BIGGS: So, Judy, this is still a developing
investigation. It's only a couple hours old.

What we know is that, at 3:05 p.M., A 29-year-old
male entered the West Side Esplanade, which is a bike path here on the West Side of Manhattan
along the river. He entered in a Home Depot rented pickup truck
at high speeds at Houston Street, mowing down pedestrians, driving about 16 blocks, before
colliding with a school bus. Then he exited the vehicle brandishing what
appeared to be two weapons, what appeared to be a pellet gun and a paintball gun, before
NYPD officers shot him in the abdomen. He was then taken to the hospital.

There are eight confirmed dead and over a
dozen injured, and they expect more injuries to come. JUDY WOODRUFF: So, Marcia Biggs, heard Mayor
de Blasio say it is an act of terror. Do we know what they're basing that on? MARCIA BIGGS: Judy, we don't know much. We were -- it was confirmed that it was an
act of terror, as you said, as we heard, but it was also stressed that this is a lone wolf,
that there is no wider plot understood, that also it was reported that there were witnesses
saying that he had shouted out "God is great" in Arabic, but the NYPD wouldn't confirm that.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And, Marcia, we know this is
a very busy area. We assume there was some security there when
this happened. MARCIA BIGGS: Well, the officers reacted very,
very quickly. Commissioner Ray Kelly stressed today in an
interview that I saw that the suspect didn't use those weapons, that those weapons may
have been inoperable, if they were real at all.

The NYPD was the only one firing shots, and
they shot him very, very quickly, and arrested him. We don't have any other information about
him, other than his age. But the area around -- in this neighborhood
where I'm standing, which is just a few blocks from where it happened, was immediately put
into lockdown mode. The high school nearby was put into lockdown
mode.

This was 3:00 in the afternoon, so school
was about to be let out. This is a very busy neighborhood. We're just in the middle of the Financial
District. It's also a very family-friendly neighborhood,
a lot of residents in this area, schools, so it was a very quick lockdown, Judy.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And I was just being reminded
the police chief is named O'Neill. Marcia, finally, we know this is Halloween. A lot of people, assuming children, are going
to be out on the streets tonight. What are they saying to people about whether
they can go out or not? MARCIA BIGGS: Well, both the mayor and the
governor stressed New Yorkers need to be New Yorkers, New York is strong, we will not let
this affect us.

The Halloween Parade, which is a very, very
famous and raucous, fun time in the West Village, is still apparently going ahead as planned,
although it is not quite in this area. It's a little bit northeast of here, about
a 15-minute walk, I would say, so it's not right in this area. But it was stressed in this press conference,
New Yorkers need to be New Yorkers -- Judy. JUDY WOODRUFF: Yes.

Marcia Biggs reporting for us from Lower Manhattan. Again, a reminder that things can change in
an instant. Thank you, Marcia. And we're going to be updating all of you
with this latest on the New York City attack and hear more about how law enforcement evaluates
acts of terror.

That will be at the end of the program..