At least 8 killed in NYC terror attack, officials say

In what New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio called a "cowardly act of terror," a man driving a rental truck struck and killed eight people on a jogging and bike path Tuesday afternoon.

The sprawling crime scene runs about 10 blocks along the West Side Highway, a few blocks away from One World Trade Center. Witnesses described the chaos at the scene. "Everybody started running," one said.

Emergency crews attend the scene of an alleged shooting incident on West Street in Manhattan, New York, Oct. 31 2017.

A damaged school bus at the scene where a truck drove into a bike path, Oct. 31, 2017, in New York City.

A suspect is in custody and was identified as 29-year-old Sayfullo Saipov of Tampa, Florida, multiple law enforcement officials told ABC News.

The suspect is reported to have screamed "Allahu Akbar" after the crash, and that is a key reason authorities are looking at terrorism as a possible motive, sources said.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said there was no evidence of a wider, ongoing threat but he said more police would be monitoring the streets on Halloween night.

The city's annual Halloween parade in the West Village, which is near the crime scene, will still take place tonight, officials said.

Investigators inspect a truck following an incident in New York City, Oct. 31, 2017. Several people were killed and numerous others injured in New York when a suspect plowed a vehicle into a bike and pedestrian path in Lower Manhattan.

The deadly incident began at about 3:05 p.m., when the vehicle -- a Home Depot rental truck, according to the company -- entered the West Street pedestrian and bike path north of Chambers Street, hitting multiple people on the path, leaving some dead and "numerous people injured," New York City police said.

At Chambers Street, the truck collided with a school bus, injuring two adults and two children, police said.

After the collision, the truck driver exited the vehicle brandishing what appeared to be two handguns, police said. A uniformed police officer confronted the suspect and shot him in the abdomen, police said.

Police Commissioner James O'Neill in a press conference later credited that officer with stopping the carnage.

The suspect was wounded and transported to a hospital, police said.

A paintball gun and a pellet gun were recovered at the scene, police said.

Authorities respond to incident in lower Manhattan in New York City, Oct. 31, 2017.

Six of the deceased victims were pronounced dead at the scene; two more died at a nearby hospital. Police said 11 were wounded with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

A witness told ABC's New York station WABC that after the truck hit multiple people on the bike path, it crashed into a school bus at Chambers and West streets, near Stuyvesant High School.

"Everybody started running," the witness said. "... Everything was happening so fast."

The witness added of the driver, "He kept going all the way down full speed."

"Thank God the trick-or-treaters weren't out yet," the witness later said.

Video from the scene showed mangled bicycles strewn across the bike path.

Bicycles and debris lay on a bike path after a motorist drove onto the path near the World Trade Center memorial, striking and killing several people, Oct. 31, 2017.

The FBI responded to the incident.

President Donald Trump has been briefed, according to a White House spokesperson.

Donald J. Trump ✔ @realDonaldTrump

In NYC, looks like another attack by a very sick and deranged person. Law enforcement is following this closely. NOT IN THE U.S.A.!

Attorney General Jeff Sessions and FBI Director Christopher Wray have also been briefed.

(ABC)