Authorities have identified a suspect in the New York City terrorist attack as 29-year-old Sayfullo Habibullaevic Saipov, NBC News has learned.
An Uzbek national who entered the U.S. in 2010, Saipov is believed to be the man who killed eight people and injured more than 12 in lower Manhattan on Tuesday.
Driving a rented Home Depot pickup truck, the suspect collided with bicyclists, pedestrians and a school bus before exiting the vehicle and pulling out a pellet gun and a paintball gun, police said. The suspect claimed his action was done for ISIS, according to a note law enforcement officials found in the truck, WNBC reported.
After being shot in the abdomen by a police officer, the suspect is currently at a hospital, where he refused to answer an initial round of questions, according to NBC News.
Saipov was an Uber driver and passed the app's background check, according to an Uber statement, the Associated Press reported. The ride-hailing firm is "aggressively and quickly reviewing" the suspect's history with the company, the Associated Press said.
President Donald Trump has called the incident a "terrorist attack." New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has said there's no evidence to suggest a wider threat or plot.
"These kinds of attacks are almost impossible to stop without very specific intelligence information about the person that intends to carry this out," said Fred Burton, a former counter-terrorism agent with the U.S. State Department from 1985 to 1999.
Burton, currently chief security officer at Stratfor, added that individuals don't need a lot of training and skill to perform these kinds of low-level assaults.
— CNBC's Angelica Lavito contributed to this report.