Multiple pedestrians were struck by an out-of-control U-Haul truck in a series of hit-and-run crashes in Brooklyn in New York City on Monday.
At least eight people are injured, including a police officer who responded to the incident and several people on mopeds and e-bikes. Two are in a critical condition and two are in a serious condition.
Local media outlets named the driver as 62-year-old Weng Sor, a US citizen originally from Malaysia, who is also reported to have been jailed in Las Vegas in 2015 for stabbing his brother.
Records from that time said that he had an "unknown type [of] mental health illness for which he takes medication". Brooklyn authorities said he told officers on Monday: “'I want to die”.
The incident unfolded at around 11am near 5th Avenue and Bay Ridge Parkway in Brooklyn’s Bay Ridge neighbourhood, with victims injured at seven different locations.
Surveillance footage showed a U-Haul truck careening off the street and onto a sidewalk, sending people in its way running for cover.
New York City Councilmember Justin Brannan characterised the incident as a “rampage”, saying on Twitter: “We have no idea of motives at this time but this wasn’t an accident,” Mr Brannan said on Twitter.”
However, New York Police Department (NYPD) commissioner Keechant Sewell said there was “no indication” that this was meant as a terrorist attack.
