Suspect in Brooklyn U-Haul 'violent rampage' identified as 62-year-old who 'wanted to die'

The suspected driver who struck at least eight people in Brooklyn on Monday while driving a U-Haul truck has been identified as 62-year-old Weng Sor, reports the New York Post. 

According to the NYPD, Sor shouted "Shoot me. I’m not stopping” at police as they tried to pull over his vehicle and later told officers he "wanted to die."

The incident started around 11 am when Sor allegedly hit at least one person on a moped near   5th Avenue and the Bay Ridge Parkway. Police tried to stop the vehicle and a 30-minute chase ensued.

The U-Haul headed north into Sunset Park, and surveillance footage shows it riding up onto the sidewalk at one point in the chase. The driver then fled northbound on the Gowanus Expressway and the vehicle was finally stopped in Red Hook but not before hitting at least seven other people, two of whom were on mopeds.

One man in his 30s was transported to Lutheran Hospital in critical condition after being hit near 4th Avenue.

Of the eight known victims, four suffered minor injuries, two were listed in serious condition, and two were listed in critical condition.

During a news briefing, NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell said, "Behind us is a U-Haul truck stopped successfully by the NYPD, ending a violent rampage through Brooklyn that left at least eight people injured."

"We know a very limited amount about the suspect at this time. That’s part of our investigation," Sewell said. "There are approximately seven scenes that we have to process at this time."

The NYPD bomb squad searched the U-Haul for possible explosives but only found laundry detergent in the back. 

Charges are pending.

Rua Bishar, who witnessed the events, said, "The truck was flying, way too fast, and hit the guy and he went down. Then it drove over him. It was horrible. The guy looked like he was dead. He was surrounded by people and he wasn’t moving."

According to the New York Post, police sources told the outlet that they were investigating if Sor was using the truck, which had been rented out of Florida in February, as a home. The sources also told the outlet that Sor received two traffic tickets on the Belt Expressway in the same truck in February and that Sor "had one prior run-in with cops for a mental health call in 2019."

"In that case, he was seen yelling and jumping into moving traffic on a street in Queens and taken to a local hospital for psychiatric evaluation," the Post reports.