At least 6 dead in incident in lower Manhattan

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October 31, 2017

NEW YORK – Police and witnesses say a motorist drove onto a busy bicycle path near the World Trade Center memorial and struck several people, then emerged from the vehicle screaming and fired what appeared to be a gun.

October 31, 2017

NEW YORK – Police and witnesses say a motorist drove onto a busy bicycle path near the World Trade Center memorial and struck several people, then emerged from the vehicle screaming and fired what appeared to be a gun.

In this photo provided by the New York City Police Department, officers respond to a report of gunfire along West Street near the pedestrian bridge at Stuyvesant High School in lower Manhattan in New York, Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2017. (Martin Speechley/NYPD via AP)

Six people were killed in what was described as an intentional act, sources told CBS News. The NYPD tweeted that the driver exited the car displaying imitation firearms and was shot by police officers.

Law enforcement sources said the incident is being investigated as a terror attack, CBS News' Pat Milton reports.

An Associated Press photographer on the scene Tuesday witnessed at least two bodies lying motionless on the path beneath tarps. The department said it was unclear whether anyone was shot or whether the injured were all struck by the vehicle.

The incident occurred at West Street and Chambers Street around 3:10 p.m, the station reports. The NYPD said on its Twitter account just before 3:30 p.m. that one person is in custody. The department isn't looking for any other suspects, CBS New York reports.

Witnesses told local media a vehicle drove down a nearby bike path and struck pedestrians and cyclists.

"A vehicle drove straight down a bicycle path heading south in Manhattan just mowing everything down," witness Greg Ahl told 1010 WINS. "It looks like a vehicle drove down the bicycle path and ran everything over."

Authorities respond near a damaged school bus Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2017, in New York. A motorist drove onto a busy bicycle path near the World Trade Center memorial and struck several people on Tuesday police and witnesses said. – (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)

"I noticed along the bike path a bunch of wrecked bicycles and as I drove it was just more and more completely and totally wrecked bicycles and people mulling around to the side. I must've seen 30 or 40 bicycles like that," Ahl said.

A man who was riding in an Uber along the West Side Highway near Chambers street says he saw several bleeding people on the ground.

A witness said the truck had also collided with a small bus and one other vehicle.

A large number of police vehicles could be seen near West Street and Chambers Street, which is near a community college, a high school and a few blocks north of the National Sept. 11 Memorial.

The NYPD says information is preliminary and the investigation is ongoing.

Residents were cautioned to avoid the area and to expect many emergency personnel in the area. Nearby Stuyvesant High School was on lockdown as a precaution, the station reports.

Additional information wasn't immediately available.

Courtesy/Source: AP (This is a developing story)