'He's laughing, very happy': Lone wolf planned New York attack for weeks

The Uzbek immigrant accused of killing eight people and injuring nearly a dozen others after he ploughed a pickup truck down a crowded bicycle path in New York executed the act "in the name of ISIS" and planned it for weeks, police said.

In the deadliest terror attack in New York post 9/11, Sayfullo Habibullaevic Saipov, 29, on Wednesday mowed down pedestrians and cyclists at high speed down a bike path in lower Manhattan.

Saipov, who came to the US legally in 2010, was shot in the stomach by a police officer before being arrested.

Unabashed, he lies in the hospital bed, bragging about the attack, multiple media reports said yesterday.

"He's talking. He's laughing. He's very happy with what he did. He feels accomplished," an unnamed source told New York Daily News.

The New York Police Department Deputy Commissioner for Counterterrorism John Miller told reporters at a news conference that it appeared that Saipov had been planning this "for a number of weeks".

Saipov did this "in the name of ISIS," he said.

Bolstering his alleged ISIS-link are the handwritten notes in Arabic recovered from the scene. The gist of the note was that the Islamic State would endure forever, the officer said.

"The gist of the note was that the Islamic State would endure forever," Miller said. Saipov also reportedly yelled "Allahu akbar" ("God is greatest") during the attack.
READ MORE