
The driver of a truck which mowed down innocent people in New York on Tuesday, killing eight and injuring 12, pledged his allegiance to ISIS before the attack and had been planning it for weeks.

Sayfullo Habibullaevic Saipov, 29, remains in custody in the hospital after being shot in the stomach by an NYPD officer at Chambers Street in Tribeca on Tuesday afternoon.

At a press conference on Wednesday morning, New York City officials said he followed replicated previous ISIS attacks involving trucks and followed the terror group's strategy, which they have mapped out on social media, 'to a T.'

Nine people remain in hospital with serious injuries including one person who has undergone a double amputation. Another three who were hospitalized have been since been released.

Eight people died including six foreign tourists, five of whom were from Argentina and one who was Belgian. The other two victims were American.

Saipov spoke to police from his hospital bed at Bellevue Hospital on Tuesday night. Sources said he appeared 'proud' throughout the interrogation.

He has been charged with federal terrorism charges on Wednesday, according to the US Attorney of the Southern District of New York, which carry the death penalty.

In the Home Depot truck which he used to carry out the attack, police found handwritten notes in Arabic of the that said 'ISIS would endure forever,' according to officials who spoke on Wednesday to declare him a 'depraved coward'.

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Sayfullo Saipov (pictured as he was arrested after being shot in the stomach by an NYPD officer on Tuesday) had been planning his attack on the West Side Highway bicycle path for months and had followed previously laid-out instructions of ISIS fanatics on social media

Saipov (seen left in a newly released driver's license photograph) was 'proud' of the attack when questioned in hospital on Tuesday night. He is seen right fleeing the scene on Tuesday with two imitation guns in his hands. He now faces the death penalty

Saidpov had a pellet gun and a paint gun on him when he was shot by the NYPD officer. Inside his rented Home Depot truck, police found 'multiple' knives, a flag and notes written in Arabic pledging his allegiance to ISIS

Saipov drove his rented Home Depot truck down the West Side Highway for 17 blocks then came to a stop by crashing into a school bus at Chambers Street. Both vehicles remain untouched at the site as authorities continue their investigations

Forensics teams retrace the route of destruction on Wednesday as they continue with investigations into the incident

At a joint press conference on Wednesday, NYPD Commissioner James O'Neill, Governor Andrew Cuomo, Mayor Bill De Blasio and members of the FBI spoke to address the terror.

They gave a fuller picture of how Saipov carried out the attack, driving from Passaic in New Jersey into Manhattan across the George Washington Bridge at 2.43pm on Tuesday afternoon.

TIMELINE OF TERROR 2:06pm Saipov rents a truck from the Home Depot in Passaic, New Jersey. 2:43pm Cameras on the George Washington Bridge show Saipov crossing into New York City. 3:04pm Cameras outside the Holland Tunnel show Saipov entering the bike lane at West Street and Houston Street at a high rate of speed. Saipov targets bicyclists and pedestrians in the south-bound lane. Eventually, crashing into a school bus at Chambers Street, where gets out and continues to terrorize bystanders. 3:08pm Police receive more than a dozen 911 calls of a truck driver targeting bystanders in the bike lane, crashing into a school bus and getting out waiving a gun. Two officers who were nearby at Stuyvesant High school for an unrelated call respond to the scene and notice Saipov walking around waiving a gun. Officer Bryan Nash, a 28-year-old who has been on the force for five years, shoots Saipov in the abdomen, bringing the rampage to an end. Advertisement

He then drove southbound on the West Side Highway and mounted the bike path.

For four minutes, he plowed through pedestrians and cyclists until crashing into a school bus at Chambers Street which is where he was then seen getting out of the vehicle with the weapons in his hands.

The West Side Highway remains closed from 14th Street to the Holland Tunnel while police continue to work at the scene.

Searches are ongoing at his home in Paterson, New Jersey, where Saipov lived with his wife and three children

Deputy NYPD Commissioner John Miller confirmed his allegiance to the terror group on Wednesday.

'Based on investigations, it appears he had been planning this for a number of weeks and he did this in the name of ISIS,' he said, adding: 'He appears to have followed almost exactly to a T the instructions that ISIS has put out on its social media channels before, with instructions to its followers on how to carry out the attack.'

Saipov immigrated to the US in 2010 and had addresses in Florida, Ohio and New Jersey. He ran his own truck sharing companies in the past but had spent the last six months working as an Uber driver.

The ride-sharing app is now cooperating with authorities as is Home Depot in Passaic, New Jersey, where he is believed to have rented the truck used in the attack.

He was living legally in the country with his wife and three children.

Authorities confirmed that they questioned him in hospital but would not disclose what he said. They also said they were interviewing his relatives and friends but would not go into further detail.

The FBI is appealing for witnesses to send photographs and videos they captured of the attack to them in order to aid investigations.

Documents reveal how he got married on April 12, 2013 to Nozima Odilova, who was 19 at the time. Both list Tashkent, Uzbekistan, as their hometown.

Saipov is originally from Uzbekistan, but immigrated to the US in 2010, and at the time of his arrest he was holding an identification card that listed his home as Tampa, Florida. Earlier on Wednesday, Governor Cuomo said he had been radicalized in the US.

Saipov began his deadly journey in New Jersey where he picked up his rented Home Depot truck from its Passaic store at 2.06pm. He then drove over the George Washington Bridge and arrived in upper Manhattan at 2.43pm. From there, he took the West Side Highway down towards the scene of the attack

Saipov mounted the bike path roughly where it intersects Houston Street after driving down it from Upper Manhattan

For four minutes he plowed through pedestrians and cyclists on the bike path until coming to a stop at Chambers Street where he smashed in to a school bus. He then got out and ran on foot but was shot by an NYPD officer on the scene

Investigators continued to work at the site on Wednesday morning. The West Side Highway bicycle path has been closed off

Crumpled and discarded Citibikes were among the tagged evidence at the scene on Tuesday night. Five of those killed were riding the rented bicycles when they were hit

The driver got onto the cycle path by Houston Street, around 17 blocks north of where he finally came to a stop

This was the harrowing scene immediately after the incident on Tuesday. Crumpled bicycles which carried innocent tourists lay discarded in the middle of the path in a sign of the terror which had just occurred

After driving down the path, mowing down innocent people, he crashed into a school bus at Chambers Street. Two adults and two children were inside at the time. Fire fighters are pictured sawing open the side of the bus to get them out

FBI investigators were seen removing items from Saipov's home in Paterson, New Jersey, on Wednesday afternoon

Police at the Paterson, New Jersey, apartment (above) where they believe Saipov was living before the attack

Saipov is believed to have driven his own Toyota mini-van to the Home Depot on Tuesday afternoon and rented the truck at 2pm. He then drove over the George Washington Bridge and carried out the attack, according to police sources. Police tape remained around the vehicle on Tuesday night

Police were also seen at Omar Mosque in Paterson, New Jersey, which he belongs to, on Wednesday morning

At his press conference on Wednesday, Cuomo slammed the President Trump's for 'politicizing' the tragedy by blaming the visa which Saipov entered the country on in 2010.

TRUMP BLAMES CHUCK SCHUMER FOR LETTING TERROR SUSPECT IN President Trump lashed out at Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Wednesday morning as he pointed out that terror suspect Saipov entered the US on a visa he drafted into legislation. 'The terrorist came into our country through what is called the "Diversity Visa Lottery Program," a Chuck Schumer beauty. I want merit based,' Trump tweeted on Wednesday. Schumer responded on the Senate Floor on Wednesday by urging the president not to 'politicize' the attack. Instead, he asked him to reverse proposed police cuts. 'I’m calling on the President to immediately rescind his proposed cuts to this vital anti-terrorism funding,' he said. Advertisement

Cuomo said it was 'not useful' for the president to blame Dem. Sen. Chuck Schumer in his tweet. The president has since called to end the Diversity Visa Lottery which is how Saipov won h is visa in 2010.

After he was identified on Tuesday, people who know Saipov or worked with him previously expressed their shock over the attack.

Kobiljon Matkarov, 37, of Maimisburg, Ohio, said that he met Saipov five years ago, and they bonded over their shared Uzbek heritage.

'He is very good guy, he is very friendly… he is like little brother… he look at me like big brother,' he told The New York Post.

He said Saipov had been working as an Uber driver in New Jersey this summer, and that the alleged terrorist had driven him, his wife and their five children to New York's JFK airport during a recent trip to their home country.

Saipov was very friendly, he said, and good with children: 'My kids like him too, he is always playing with them.

'He is playing all the time,' he said - but added that when one of the children asked to take a photo with him, Saipov refused. 'He no like that. He said no,' Matkarov said.

Matkarov said he was shocked by the claim that his friend had murdered and injured two dozen people, and that he didn't know of any terrorist connections he may have had.

At a press conference on Wednesday, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (center) was joined by Mayor Bill De Blasio (right) and NYPD Commissioner James O'Neill (left)

Saipov has close links to Osh, in the ex-Soviet state Kyrgyzstan, according to Ruslan Leviev, head of the Conflict Intelligence Team, an anti-Kremlin social media monitoring group.

He has social media links to friends in the city, also the home of Akbarjon Djalilov, who bombed the St Petersburg metro last year, was from.

The city has an ethnic Uzbek population who claim to be repressed. The manager of Saipov's local grocery store in Paterson, Farm Boy Super Fresh Supermarket on Getty Avenue, had a very different opinion of the man.

She claims that Saipov was an 'erratic' customer who berated the cashiers, the New York Post reported.

'Every time he came here he was always erratic or arguing with the cashiers,' the manager, who did not want to provide her name, told The Post.

The FBI and NYPD are both appealing for members of the public to send photographs and videos of the attack to them

'He would get angry very fast…. he would break the cans, dumb things,' she said, adding that he was known for his rude behavior.

'I feel like he was prejudiced to the cashiers - whether they were covered or not in a hijab - he would belittle them,' she told The Post.

'He was talking good English, proper, but he would call the cashiers dumb, uneducated - how they didn't know how to scan the items.'

She also said that Saipov, who moved to the U.S. in 2010 from Uzbekistan, argued often about the price of Canada Dry Ginger Ale.

'Soda was the problem. He would come here and buy soda,' she said. 'He would give us a hard time on the 12-pack Canada Dry - if it was one price he would want his own price. It was always the soda, always a problem with the 12-pack of cans. Always a problem.'

Uber said in a statement on Tuesday night: 'We are horrified by this senseless of violence. Our hearts are with the victims and their families. We have reached out to law enforcement to provide our full assistance.'

The company said that he had passed a background check by the company and that they are now 'aggressively' reviewing his history with them, although they had not yet found any 'concerning safety reports.'

The company added that he has been banned from the app.

A 19-YEAR-OLD WIFE, 1,400 UBER TRIPS AND TWO TRUCKING FIRMS: WHO IS SAYFULLO SAIPOV? Police say the attack that transformed a popular New York City bike path along the Hudson River into a scene of terror was perpetrated by a lone man they consider a terrorist. A family friend described the suspect as calm and hard-working, while President Donald Trump derided him as 'sick and deranged.' A picture of the man's life only just began to emerge in the immediate hours after the Tuesday attack that killed at eight people and injured 11 more. A look at what is known about Sayfullo Saipov: A YOUNG IMMIGRANT Officials who were not authorized to discuss the investigation and spoke on the condition of anonymity identified Saipov as the attacker and said he is 29 and originally from Uzbekistan. He came to the U.S. legally in 2010, the officials said, and it is believed that he lived first in Ohio after his arrival. An acquaintance, Dilnoza Abdusamatova, said Saipov briefly stayed with his family in a Cincinnati suburb upon immigrating. 'He always used to work,' Abdusamatova told The Cincinnati Enquirer. 'He wouldn't go to parties or anything. He only used to come home and rest and leave and go back to work.' The ride-hailing company Uber said Sayfullo Saipov (pictured in mug shots from a previous offence) passed its background check and drove for the service for six months, making more than 1,400 trips DRAWN TO FLORIDA Authorities said Saipov had a Florida driver's license and some public records showed an address for him at a Tampa apartment complex. Residents at that complex said FBI agents came by Tuesday evening and conducted interviews. Michael Roberts, 30, an overnight shift worker, said he was asleep when the agents showed up at about 5.30pm but that they interviewed his cousin. He said both he and his cousin had moved in only a week ago and had never heard of Saipov. A friend who met Saipov in Florida, Kobiljon Matkarov, told The New York Times and the New York Post that he seemed like a 'very good guy.' 'My kids like him too. He is always playing with them,' Matkarov told the Post. NEW JERSEY TIES Officials said Saipov was living recently in New Jersey, where he allegedly rented a Home Depot pickup truck an hour before driving it onto the bike path. On Tuesday night, police investigating the deadly rampage surrounded a white Toyota minivan with Florida plates parked in the parking lot of a Home Depot in Passaic, New Jersey. The van was parked near the company's rental trucks. UBER DRIVER The ride-hailing company Uber said Saipov passed its background check and drove for the service for six months, making more than 1,400 trips. The company said it banned him from the service after the attack. It said it was in touch with the FBI and offered its assistance and that it was reviewing Saipov's driving history but found no related safety reports. COMMERCIAL TRUCK DRIVER Records show Saipov was a commercial truck driver who formed a pair of businesses in Ohio. The first business, Sayf Motors Inc., used the address of a family friend near Cincinnati with whom Saipov had stayed for a couple of weeks after his arrival in the country. The second, Bright Auto LLC, used an address near Cleveland. A trucking industry website listed Saipov at a Paterson, New Jersey, address that authorities were searching Tuesday night. Court records related to trucking-related infractions list Saipov with addresses in Paterson and the Cleveland suburbs. According to the records, a warrant was issued for Saipov's arrest in April 2016 when he missed a hearing on a misdemeanor for not having the right brakes on his vehicle. He resolved the case in November 2016 by pleading guilty and paying $200 in fines and court costs. NO DIGITAL FOOTPRINT No social media accounts linked to Saipov emerged immediately after the attack, but there were possible clues to his personal life. A marriage license filed in Summit County, Ohio, lists a man by the name of Sayfulloh Saipov marrying Nozima Odilova on April 12, 2013 when she was about 19. It lists the same Cleveland-area apartment noted as the headquarters of Bright Auto LLC. The license lists Saipov as a truck driver. His wife is about six years younger. Both list Tashkent, Uzbekistan, as their hometown. Advertisement

According to public records, Saipov worked as a commercial truck driver and has previously lived in Ohio. It's unclear how long he had been in New Jersey or New York prior to the attack.

He also has two businesses registered to Ohio: Sayf Motors Inc. was registered in Hamilton County from May 2011, and is located in an apartment in Cincinnati; and Bright Auto LLC was registered in Cuyahoga Falls from August 2013 and is located in another apartment.

Bright Auto LLC is an active carrier registered with the U.S. Department of Transportation. Records show that the trucking company has one truck and one driver.

The company said it could not confirm if the suspect had rented the vehicle, but they are cooperating with police.

Saipov also has a minor criminal record for traffic offenses in Missouri and Pennsylvania.

He provided an address in St Charles County, Missouri, for the 2016 Missouri traffic violation, which shows the location is registered address for STL Logistics LLC. That company had a Freightliner tractor and semi-trailer registered, records show.

The front of the Tampa, Florida apartment building that Saipov also listed as an address is pictured on Tuesday night

Saipov was cited in Pennsylvania in 2015 for 'Max length of a single trailer' and pleaded guilty

He paid the associated fines from the citation. He was also cited for a traffic violation in Missouri in 2016

Court records show that he was stopped in Mount Holly Springs Borough, Pennsylvania, on March 2015.

Belgian tourist Ann-Laure Decadt, 31, a mother-of-two, was killed

Saipov provided an address in St Charles County, Missouri for that traffic violation, which shows the location is registered address for STL Logistics LLC.

Saipov, who provided authorities with an address in Paterson, New Jersey, pleaded guilty to a single charge of maximum length of a single trailer and paid fees associated with the citation.

Video footage seen by DailyMail.com suggested that injured people were being treated around every 10 feet along the bike lane struck by the truck.

Six of the eight people who died in the attack have been identified as foreign tourists.

Belgian mother-of-two Ann-Laure Decadt was struck from behind by Saipov's truck as she cycled. She died in hospital shortly afterwards.

The 31-year-old's grieving husband said she was on a trip to the US with her mother and two sisters at the time of the attack.

Five Argentinian men who were in New York for a class of 1987 school reunion also died.

They are Ariel Erlij, Hernán Diego Mendoza, Diego Enrique Angelini, Alejandro Damián Pagnucco and Hernán Ferruchi.

Another in their group, named as Martin Ludovico Marro, remain in hospital as do 12 others.

On Wednesday, Mayor Bill De Blasio said they would be 'remembered as New Yorkers'.

'They came here because they saw New York as a special place to be. We now and forever will consider them New Yorkers. They shared this tragedy with us. We will remember them as New Yorkers,' he said.

Five members of this group of Argentinian friends were killed when a terrorist ran them and others down in New York on Tuesday. The murdered men are Hernán Diego Mendoza (far left), Alejandro Damián Pagnucco (second from left), Ariel Erlij (third from left), Diego Enrique Angelini (second from right) and Hernán Ferruchi (third from right). A sixth friend, Martin Ludovico Marro (not pictured), was injured

Hero: Saipov stopped by Officer Ryan Nash, a five-year veteran of the NYPD who happened to be in the area

Saipov was was shot by hero NYPD officer Ryan Nash, 28. Nash was attending to a 2:35pm report of a suicidal 17-year-old girl at nearby Stuyvesant High School when he confronted the alleged terrorist.

The suspect refused to drop his weapons, police said, so Nash shot and arrested him.

In a press conference earlier in the day, NYPD Commissioner James O'Neill applauded Nash's heroism without naming him, saying: 'I want to commend the response of our NYPD officer that was on post near the location who stopped the carnage moments after it began.'

Despite the day's terrifying events, New Yorkers still took to the streets to attend both Halloween parties and the annual Halloween Parade up 6th Avenue.

Tens of thousands of zombies, vampires, ghouls and ghosts packed out the streets - protected by a ramped-up police presence.

Streets connecting to 6th Avenue were blocked off not just with barriers, but with heavy vehicles capable of stopping cars that might attempt to bust through.

Heavy arms units were also on the scene, as well as thousands of NYPD officers.

New York Mayor Bill De Blasio and Governor Andrew Cuomo were also present - thought not in costume - as a show of strength against the terrorist attack.

In a press conference on Tuesday night, both men promised that New York would stand tall.

Despite the day's terrifying events, New Yorkers still took to the streets to attend both Halloween parties and the annual Halloween Parade up 6th Avenue. The Freedom Tower can be seen in the back of the image

Cuomo (seen on the left of both images) and De Blasio (to his right) both joined in the Halloween parade. They were seen waving to crowds and clapping as the event rolled on

This was the scene immediately after the attack on Tuesday afternoon. Saipov's truck dragged with it a large amount of debris when it plowed down the cycle path

Above, one of the victims lies beneath a sheet as NYPD officers stand by next to their crumpled Citibike

A shocking video taken immediately after the attack shows by-passers trying to save people who were injured or killed

NYPD INCREASES SNIPERS, HELICOPTERS AND ARMED TEAMS AFTER HALLOWEEN ATTACK At Wednesday's press conference, New York officials announced plans for doubled security at the New York Marathon on Sunday. In light of Tuesday's attack on the West Side Highway, there will be more sand vehicles and blocker vehicles across the city on Sunday than there has ever been before. Teams of counter-snipers will patrol rooftops and there will be additional helicopters searching the city for any threat throughout the event. During the week, there will be a bolstered presence of armed police across the city. The strongest presence will be felt on the subway and in major train stations. Advertisement

Despite the added security, city officials said there was no evidence that Tuesday's attack was part of a wider terror plot.

Witnesses described hearing five to ten gun shots, all of which came from police guns.

Others ran for their lives as they watched the truck plow into pedestrians after veering off the road.

Shocking video footage from the scene on Tuesday showed cyclists lying on the ground with their bikes smashed in to pieces around them. By-passers were seen tending to them as they awaited medical attention.

In the surrounding area, students were in the middle of doing exams when they heard police firing shots.

Roza Kazan, a student at the BMCC, said she was in the middle of a statistics mid term when the chaos unfolded.

She told DailyMail.com: 'An announcer said in the middle of the test there had been a shooting. But he said there were so many police that it was safe to stay inside and carry on. So I finished the test.

'Then he came on again and said that the shooting occurred because someone had run people down in their car.

'I was getting a coffee on the corner where it happened just a couple of hours earlier.

'I can't believe the announcer was so calm. It made it seemed like what was happening wasn't serious.'

A woman is seen being treated by paramedics at the scene of the attack in Tribeca, downtown Manhattan, on Tuesday

An injured victim is taken to hospital after the attack on Tuesday afternoon. Thirteen people remain in hospital

An NYPD officer stands beside one of the bodies of the victims on the cycle path on Tuesday afternoon

This was the chaotic scene at the site of the crash, after Saipov and his victims were taken to hospital

The truck came to a stop after crashing into a school bus at Chambers Street. It remains at the scene

A little girl cries as she is navigated away from the scene on Tuesday afternoon

Within minutes of the first reports, there was an enormous police and fire service presence at the site.

Ezequiel Gonzalez, 18, a speech coach at Stuyvesant High School, told DailyMail.com at the scene: 'I heard what sounded like gas caskets and I went up on the bridge and saw a car caved in.

'Then I was pushed back and saw the ambulances arriving. The school was put on lockdown.'

John Williams, 22, told DailyMail.com he was there around 30 seconds after the gun shot: 'I saw one man lying on the ground being looked after by paramedics and cops, another man getting arrested and what seemed like another man running towards the Hudson River.

'I came out and saw a man holding two guns. I could still smell the gunfire. It was a very strong scent. I was concerned for the safety of everyone because there was someone walking around with a gun.'

Williams said he heard between five and ten gun shots in total.

Mohammad Hamza Amzher, another witness, said the suspect looked Hispanic and strongly denied the man hearing him shout 'Allah Akbhar'. He saw him walking down the street wearing a hoodie and holding a gun.

At the time, school children were being let out of class after a day of Halloween festivities.