The man accused of killing eight people by driving a truck down a busy New York cycle path was an Uber driver who may have lived in New Jersey after emigrating from Uzbekistan seven years ago.

As New York City reels from its latest terror atrocity, police have issued the first picture of their suspect, 29-year-old Sayfullo Saipov.

Records show Saipov was a commercial truck driver who formed a pair of businesses in Ohio. He had also driven for Uber, the company said.

Sayfullo Saipov is suspected of mowing down pedestrians and cyclists along a busy bike path near the World Trade Centre memorial St Charles County Department of Corrections/KMOV via AP (St Charles County Department of Corrections/KMOV via AP)

An Ohio marriage license shows a truck driver with one of Saipov's addresses and his name, spelled slightly differently, married a fellow Uzbek in 2013.

During his time in Fort Myers, Florida, several years ago, Saipov was "a very good person," an acquaintance, Kobiljon Matkarov, told The New York Times.

"He liked the US. He seemed very lucky, and all the time, he was happy and talking like everything is okay. He did not seem like a terrorist, but I did not know him from the inside," Mr Matkarov said.

New York attack: Man 'drove truck into school bus with children inside'

He said Saipov later moved to New Jersey and began driving for Uber. San Francisco-based Uber said he started over six months ago.

An acquaintance, Dilnoza Abdusamatova, said Saipov briefly stayed with his family in a Cincinnati suburb upon immigrating.

"He always used to work," Ms 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."

Uzbekistan told President Donald Trump it was ready to do everything it could to help investigate the attack.

Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev made the offer of help in a letter of condolence to Mr Trump, in which he condemned the attack as "extremely brutal" and said there could be no justification for such violence.

"From our side, we are ready to use all our power and resources to cooperate in the investigation of this terrorist act," Mr Mirziyoyev wrote in the letter, which was posted on his country's Foreign Ministry's website.

"We express our solidarity with the US people."

CNN and other US media said Saipov left a note saying he carried out the attack in the name of Isis and shouted "Allahu Akbar" - Arabic for "God is great" - when he jumped out of his truck.

Thousands of men from Central Asia have been fighting for Isis in Syria and Iraq, and Uzbek nationals or ethnic Uzbeks have carried out several attacks on civilians in Europe this year.

On New Year's day, an Uzbek gunman burst into a nightclub in the Turkish city of Istanbul and killed 39 people.

In April, an ethnic Uzbek man born in Kyrgyzstan blew up a metro train in the Russian city of St Petersburg, killing at least 15 people, including himself.

That same month, an Uzbek man rammed a truck into a crowd in Stockholm, killing four people.

New York Truck attack Show all 6 1 /6 New York Truck attack New York Truck attack Investigators inspect the truck following the attack Investigators inspect a truck following a shooting incident in New York on 31 October 2017. Several people were killed and numerous others injured in New York on Tuesday when a suspect plowed a vehicle into a bike and pedestrian path in Lower Manhattan, and struck another vehicle on Halloween, police said. A suspect exited the vehicle holding up fake guns, before being shot by police and taken into custody, officers said. The motive was not immediately apparent. Getty New York Truck attack A paramedic looks at a body along the bike path A paramedic looks at a body covered under a white sheet along the bike path 31 October 2017, in New York. A motorist drove onto a busy bicycle path near the World Trade Center memorial and struck several people Tuesday, police and witnesses said. AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews New York Truck attack The truck driver collided with a school bus Authorities respond near a damaged school bus Tuesday, 31 October 2017, in New York. A motorist drove onto a busy bicycle path near the World Trade Center memorial and struck several people, police and witnesses said. Two adults and two children were on the bus at the time. AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews New York Truck attack A young girl reacts to the scene A young girl reacts as police officers secure an area following a shooting incident in New York on 31 October 2017. Several people were killed and numerous others injured in New York on Tuesday after a vehicle plowed into a pedestrian and bike path in Lower Manhattan, police said. 'The vehicle struck multiple people on the path,' police tweeted. 'The vehicle continued south striking another vehicle. The suspect exited the vehicle displaying imitation firearms & was shot by NYPD.' DON EMMERT/AFP/Getty Images New York Truck attack Police officers arrive at the scene Police officers arrive at the scene following a shooting incident in New York on 31 October 2017. Multiple people were hurt in downtown Manhattan, US media reported after police confirmed that they were responding to reports of a shooting. Police said they had mobilized to the scene in Lower Manhattan and that one person was in custody, giving no further details. DON EMMERT/AFP/Getty Images New York Truck attack Emergency personnel respond to truck attack in lower Manhattan Emergency personal respond after reports of multiple people hit by a truck after it plowed through a bike path in lower Manhattan on 31 October 2017 in New York City. According to reports up to six people may have been killed. Kena Betancur/Getty Images

Police said the attacker rented the truck at about 2pm at a New Jersey Home Depot and then went into New York City, entering the bike path about an hour later and speeding toward the World Trade Centre, the site of the deadliest terror attack in US history.

He barreled along the bike path in the truck for the equivalent of about 14 blocks, or around eight-tenths of a mile, before slamming into a small yellow school bus.

Saipov was shot by a police officer after jumping out of the truck with two fake guns. He was whisked away to a local hospital, where he was recovering from an abdominal wound.

New York City mayor Bill de Blasio described the attack as “a particularly cowardly act of terror” and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said it was perpetrated by a “lone wolf”.

Mr Trump tweeted: “In NYC, looks like another attack by a very sick and deranged person.”

He later added: “We must not allow Isis to return, or enter, our country after defeating them in the Middle East and elsewhere. Enough!”

Prime Minister Theresa May said she was “appalled by this cowardly attack” and that the UK stands with NYC.

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson echoed her statement, adding: “We will not give in to terror.”