Hero cop stopped terror suspect’s NYC killing spree

NYPD police officer Ryan Nash was out on a routine call — to locate an emotionally disturbed person — when suddenly, he came face-to-face with a terrorist committing the worst massacre in New York City in years.

Nash, 28, who is stationed in the First Precinct, stopped the killing spree by shooting Sayfullo Saipov near Stuyvesant High School at Chamber and West streets on Tuesday, police sources said, reports the New York Post.

Saipov shouted “Allahu akbar!” — Arabic for “God is great!” — after allegedly ramming a Home Depot rental pick-up truck into people along a bike path, killing eight. He then whipped out two weapons — which turned out to be a paintball gun and pellet gun — as he ran from his smashed truck.

Mr Nash gave chase, drew his weapon and opened fire, bringing down the 29-year-old suspect before he could do any more harm, law-enforcement sources said.

Mr Nash, who lives in Medford, Long Island, was taken to Bellevue Hospital, where he was treated for ringing in his ears.

The fast-acting cop has been on the job for more than five years with more than 50 arrests to his credit, sources said.

“A uniformed police officer ... confronted the subject and shot him in the abdomen,” NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill said.

Eight people were killed and 11 seriously injured in a Halloween afternoon attack that the mayor called “a particularly cowardly act of terror.”

TRUMP CALLS FOR “MERIT BASED IMMIGRATION”

President Donald Trump is calling for “Merit Based immigration” following the deadly truck attack in New York City. Mr Trump said on Twitter on Wednesday that the driver in Tuesday’s attack “came into our country through what is called the ‘Diversity Visa Lottery Program,’ a Chuck Schumer beauty.”

Officials said the attacker is an immigrant from Uzbekistan who came to the US legally in 2010. They haven’t said whether he came in through the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program, which covers immigrants from countries with low rates of immigration to the US

Mr Trump tweeted, “We are fighting hard for Merit Based immigration, no more Democrat Lottery Systems. We must get MUCH tougher (and smarter).”

We are fighting hard for Merit Based immigration, no more Democrat Lottery Systems. We must get MUCH tougher (and smarter). @foxandfriends

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 1, 2017

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo says investigators probing the deadly truck attack along a popular bike path near the World Trade Center have a note referencing the Islamic State.

Mr Cuomo stressed on Wednesday on CBS This Morning that the investigation is ongoing.

Law enforcers are working to determine what led the pickup truck driver to plow down people on the bike path on Tuesday afternoon. The driver is in critical condition after police shot him in the abdomen.

Mr Cuomo calls the driver a “depraved coward,” and says the attack “did not instill terror” among hardy New Yorkers.

US STOCK EXCHANGES OBSERVE MOMENT OF SILENCE

The Nasdaq, NYSE and other prominent exchanges in the US on Tuesday held a moment of silence for the victims of the NYC terror attacks.