Uber: Suspect In NYC Terror Attack Was Driver With Ridesharing Service
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- Bay Area ridesharing giant Uber confirmed late Tuesday night that Sayfullo Habibullaevic Saipov, the suspect in a terror attack that left eight people dead and more than a dozen injured on a New York City bike path, was a driver with the app-based service.
Uber said Saipov passed the Uber security background check, but has now been banned from the app.
"We are horrified by this senseless act of violence," an Uber representative said in a statement. "Our hearts are with the victims and their families. We have reached out to law enforcement to provide our full assistance."
Uber said it has been in contact with the FBI and has offered assistance, and will remain in close contact with law enforcement and the FBI to assist with their investigation.
The service said it is aggressively and quickly reviewing Saipov's history with Uber, and has not identified and related safety reports of concerns.
Law enforcement officials who were not authorized to discuss the investigation and spoke on the condition of anonymity said Saipov came to the U.S. legally in 2010. He has a Florida driver's license but may have been staying in New Jersey, they said. Investigators were trying to speak with Saipov, who remained hospitalized Wednesday after surgery, one official said.
Records show Saipov was a commercial truck driver who formed a pair of businesses in Ohio. An Ohio marriage license shows that a truck driver with one of Saipov's addresses and his name, spelled slightly differently, married a fellow Uzbek in 2013.
Eight people were killed and 11 seriously injured in the Halloween afternoon attack that the mayor called "a particularly cowardly act of terror."
Saipov was in critical condition but expected to survive after a police officer shot him in the abdomen. Investigators were trying to speak with him Wednesday.
A roughly two-mile stretch of highway in downtown Manhattan was shut down for the investigation.
Authorities also converged on a New Jersey apartment building and a van in a parking lot at a New Jersey Home Depot store. Authorities were scrutinizing a note found inside the attacker's rented truck, according to two law enforcement officials who were not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation and spoke on the condition of anonymity. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday on "CBS This Morning" the note made a reference to ISIS, and that he had been radicalized in the U.S.
Police and the FBI urged members of the public to give them any photos or video that could help.
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