Ryan Nash was identified as the New York City police officer who put an end to a rampage by a suspected terrorist in lower Manhattan on Tuesday, shooting the suspect in the abdomen after he exited a rented vehicle, the New York Daily News reported.
Nash, 28, was responding to a nonviolent, emotionally disturbed person outside of Stuyvesant High School at the time a call came in about a suspect driving on a bike path and purposely hitting people, the newspaper said.
The officer, who has been on the force for five years and assigned to the Lower Manhattan's 1st Precinct, confronted the suspect, identified as Sayfullo Saipov, 29, after he allegedly ran into a school bus, the Daily News reported.
Nash shot Saipov, who was armed with what turned out to be a paintball gun and a pellet gun, when he refused to comply with orders to drop the weapons, ending the incident that killed eight people and injured 11 others, the newspaper said.
CBS News reported that witnesses told authorities that Saipov, an Uzbekistan national, yelled "Allahu Akbar" when he exited the rent vehicle, which is Arabic for "God is great."
"I want to commend the response of our NYPD officer that was on post near the location who stopped the carnage moments after it began," New York Police Commissioner James P. O'Neill said at a news conference. "And also work, the work of the first responders, including the Fire Department and the EMS personnel surely helped save additional lives."
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio also lauded Nash during news conference comments.
"And I want to thank everyone at the NYPD, all our first responders for their extraordinary efforts in the midst of this tragedy, starting with the officer who stopped this tragedy from continuing – all the first responders who came to the aid of those who were injured," de Blasio said. "An investigation is underway to get all the facts and what we will tell you today of course will be preliminary."
A police source told CBS News that Nash, a native of Medford, Long Island, has more than 50 arrests to his credit since joining the force in 2012. He was taken to Bellevue Hospital for ringing in his ears, CBS News noted.
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