(CNN) – The suspect in New York’s deadliest terror attack since 9/11 has been charged with federal terrorism offenses in connection with Tuesday’s attack in Manhattan in which eight people were killed.
29-year-old Sayfullo Saipov of Uzbeckistan is charged with providing material support to ISIS and violence and destruction of motor vehicles.
Saipov, who came to the United States legally in 2010, had been living in New Jersey at the time of the attacks.
Saipov rented a truck similar to the one used in the attack several times over the course of the last several weeks in order to be familiar with operating it.
Authorities said Saipov allegedly crashed the rented truck into a school bus, left the vehicle brandishing imitation firearms and was shot by police.
In carrying out the attack, Saipov relied on the playbook laid out by ISIS in recent years, officials said.
The New York Police Department’s Deputy Commissioner John Miller said that handwritten notes in Arabic found near the scene had both symbols and words, but the general message was that the Islamic State would endure forever.
“He appears to have followed almost exactly to a ‘T’ the instructions that ISIS has put out in its social media channels before with instructions to their followers on how to carry out such an attack,” Miller said.
According to a federal complaint, Saipov told investigators he was inspired by Islamic State videos, in particular one showing ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and began planning an attack a year ago.
He survived the shooting and was taken into custody.
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