NYPD Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell gave updates on a multi-location incident involving a suspect who hit eight people while driving a U-Haul truck through the Bay Ridge neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, on February 13.
“Now, it is said, we have struck eight. Two are in critical condition, two are in serious condition, and four sustained minor injuries. Seven of those people are civilians, one of them is a police officer who was engaged in police action during this incident,” said Sewell.
Sewell said there was “no indication that terrorism was involved,” but that police would continue to investigate.
Police declined to release any personal information about the suspect at the time of the press conference, which was held near the scene of the suspect’s arrest at the intersection of Columbia Street and Hamilton Avenue.
The U-Haul truck involved in the incident can be seen behind the police in this video. Credit: NYPD via Storyful
Video transcript
KEECHANT SEWELL: Good evening, everyone. Thank you for being here. We are here on Columbia Street and Hamilton Avenue in Brooklyn where behind us is the successful stop of a U-Haul truck by the NYPD that ended a violent rampage through Brooklyn that left at least eight injured. Those victims are now in area hospitals.
We wish all the people of the city the best of luck for their speedy recovery. The initial details are as follows.
At approximately 10:50 this morning, officers responded to a man driving a U-Haul truck in the Bay Ridge area of Brooklyn. The vehicle hit several people, and was eventually stopped here near the Battery Tunnel entrance into Manhattan by our Highway Patrol unit. We are still taking the events. This information is preliminary and subject to change as we continue to learn more.
At present, it is said, we have hit eight. Two are in critical condition, two are in serious condition, and four sustained minor injuries. Seven of those people are civilians. One of them is a policeman who was engaged in police action during this incident. We have seven different locations to process, including the one behind us.
At this time, we have no indication that terrorism is involved in this incident. However, as always, we will continue to investigate this incident with the full resources of the NYPD and our partners. What we saw today is a clear example of why, every minute of every day, the NYPD must be prepared for every possibility.
I want to thank our NYPD officers, our law enforcement partners for taking action this morning. If anyone has any information that could help with this investigation, we encourage you to contact us at 1-800-577-TIPS. You can do so anonymously. Again, this information is preliminary. I will take some questions.
– Guys, don’t pull out.
– Commissioner Sewell, good morning.
KEECHANT SEWELL: Good morning.
– What caused the initial stop? Why was the vehicle suspicious and towed in the first place? And what can you tell us about the vehicle?
KEECHANT SEWELL: The stalled vehicle was stopped because it hit several people. He came to rest here behind us.
– So he met people before?
– That is correct.
– Okay.
– [INAUDIBLE] Harry.
– Good evening. There appears to be some circulating video showing an NYPD car on the side of the road after that [INAUDIBLE]. Can you talk to us about– tactically why that might be [INAUDIBLE]?
KEECHANT SEWELL: That is also the subject of our investigation. All of that will be part of our investigation.
– Go over straight here ahead.
– Yes. can you tell us about some of the other locations and also what we know about the suspect?
KEECHANT SEWELL: We know a very limited amount about this matter at this time. That’s part of our investigation. There are about seven scenes that we need to process at this time. They are all in Bay Ridge along the way so far.
– Can you just give us a name and age?
KEECHANT SEWELL: Off topic? We are not releasing that at this time.
– Adam Harding.
– Could you, because of the suspect, have anything to do with New York? He may have only been in the area, we understand, for a few years. And, because sentencing has begun in a similar case on the West Side, is there any correlation, connection in dates, similar crimes?
KEECHANT SEWELL: As it stands, this is very early in the investigation. That will be part of what we’re looking at at this time whether this person has a connection to New York or out of state as part of that as well.
– We’ll get one or two more. [INAUDIBLE]
– Thank you, Commissioner.
KEECHANT SEWELL: Hello.
– When you say seven scenes, does that mean people were killed in those seven different places? Is there anything to indicate that it was intentional?
KEECHANT SEWELL: We do not know that at this time. There are seven scenes, eight were hit, and that will be determined as we go through the scene with our crime scene unit.
– Last question. Rocco.
– Commissioner, a few elected officials have already tweeted that the suspect has said something about wanting to die. Could you talk about what he said [INAUDIBLE]?
KEECHANT SEWELL: Again, it’s too early for us to be able to say that, Rocco. That will be released when we have that information.
– Was the first call about a U-Haul truck driving recklessly or a pedestrian hit? Or were all the pedestrians hit after the police caught the vehicle?
– The preliminary information is that the U-Haul hit people first and then we got into a fight after that.
– Last question. Joe Moreno.
– Do we know the status of the U-Haul? Stolen? Where was it rented?
– It is now part of our investigation. Thank you all for your time. I appreciate you coming out. Thank you.