Suspect in deadly U-Haul truck rampage admitted hitting several people, sources say
Weng Sor
By Web staff
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NEW YORK, NY (WABC) — The suspect who police say went on a violent rampage with a U-Haul truck in Brooklyn that left one person dead and nine others injured is in custody.
Eyewitness News has learned that during questioning at the 68th precinct in Bay Ridge, 62-year-old Weng Sor admitted that he struck at least three to four people while driving the truck.
He explained that he wanted police to shoot him. Sor made the statements, which were videotaped, after waiving his Miranda rights.
Sor is charged with one count of murder in the second degree and seven counts of attempted murder. He was walked out of the 68th Precinct on Tuesday night and taken to Brooklyn Criminal Court where he’ll be arraigned sometime Wednesday.
Investigators have said they have no reason to believe he was motivated by any sort of terrorist ideology.
“We believe Mr. Sor was suffering from a mental health crisis, at this time there is no nexus to terrorism,” Chief of Detectives James Essig said.
Sor told police he saw an “invisible object” come toward his vehicle and said “I’ve had enough” before beginning what police later called a “violent rampage” through Brooklyn, Essig said.
Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell promised to work with the Brooklyn DA’s office to achieve a “measure of justice” for the victims.
When police finally stopped Sor near the Battery Tunnel he said to the officers “You should have shot me,” Essig said.
Sor lives with his mother in Las Vegas where he has eight prior arrests dating back to 2002 for DWI, evading a police officer, battery, resisting arrest, domestic battery, battery with a deadly weapon. He was also stopped in South Carolina in the rented U-Haul February 5 for reckless driving and marijuana possession.
In the past he has had to undergo at least one court-ordered mental health evaluation.
His brother has also revealed Sor has a history of mental illness.
Surveillance video showed that U-Haul box truck flying up onto sidewalks Monday morning.
The truck mowed down pedestrians and people on bikes across eight different crime scenes in Sunset Park, Bay Ridge and Red Hook.
The nearly hour-long rampage ended near the Brooklyn Battery tunnel when an NYPD cruiser boxed the truck in.
A total of ten people were hit, and one of the victims has died.
We spoke to witnesses of who say as bad as this was, it could have been even worse.
Shannon Sohn in Newscopter 7 describes the mayhem left behind in Brooklyn:
We reached out to U-Haul, which tells us the truck was rented from their facility in West Palm Beach Florida on February 1 with a return date of March 3.
Former NYPD Chief of Detectives and ABC News Contributor Robert Boyce said it is difficult not to compare this incident to the man who drove a truck through a crowded street in Manhattan killing several people back in 2017.
Monday’s incident coincided with the start of the death penalty phase in Saipov’s trial.
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