A Civilian Helped Subdue the NYC Truck Terrorist and He's Still Anonymous

Wednesday, Riggs paid a great and very deserving tribute to Ryan Nash, the NYPD officer who took out the terrorist who had just killed eight people with his rental truck by firing a shot into his fanatical gut and apprehending him. Now as details emerge, we get an even more heroic picture of the people who responded and brought this maniac down.

First, as the time the rampage started, Officer Nash and his partner, Officer John Hasiotis, were responding to a call at Stuyvesant High School in TriBeCa, where the mass murdered had slammed into a school bus. What were they doing at the school? Hassling some juvenile over an outstanding warrant, perhaps? Busting someone for an ounce of weed, maybe? No. They’d been called to the nurses office because some depressed kid was talking about suicide. They were counseling some confused and desperate teenager. Then caught the tail end of all Hell breaking out outside the window and ran toward it. Because that’s what cops do.

But this tale of selflessness and real bravery goes even deeper. Because kind of lost in the news reports is an anonymous man who put himself in harm’s way too:

The four officers rushed out of the school, turning east toward the highway and confronting Mr. Saipov on the street. He had what appeared to be pistols in each hand and turned toward the officers as they approached. Officer Nash was the closest, and fired his department-issued gun.

When Mr. Saipov dropped to the pavement, a civilian — who had previously tried to tackle the suspect as he was getting out of the rented truck — approached the wounded man, who was still clutching the two weapons.

The civilian kicked the guns out of Mr. Saipov’s hands.

As I’m writing this, there are no reports on who this civilian is. And while I’ll die before I minimize what New York’s Finest did to stop the terrorist, think about what this guy did. The police have training. They answer a calling to keep people safe that begins with a months long boot camp. They have weapons to go along with their courage. This anonymous hero had nothing but his hands, his feet, and apparently balls made out of Adamantium because he came after this homicidal – and as far as anyone knew, heavily armed – homicidal maniac not once, but twice. Missing on the tackle but kicking the guns safely away before he could get shots off.

“To steal a line from Riggs’ original post, “Seemingly ordinary people doing extraordinary things.” And as we speak we’ve got an anonymous Gothamite, this unsung hero, out there known to no one except maybe the police. Maybe he’ll never come forward because he doesn’t want the publicity. But I hope he does. I hope he’s recognized everywhere he goes so that those of us who likely wouldn’t have had the guts to do what he did can pick up his bar tab forever.

Every time I start to believe there’s no hope for humanity, a story like this comes along to remind me that honorable, selfless and courageous people still have the scumbags outnumbered.

@jerrythornton1

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