NEW YORK _ A gunman emerged from a crashed Home Depot truck and opened fire after apparently plowing down four riders Tuesday afternoon on a Lower Manhattan bike path, eyewitnesses said.
The NYPD reported one man was in custody after initial reports of gunfire set off a mad scramble in the downtown area. Police flooded the area shortly after the first shots were fired around 3 p.m. Eastern time.
"I thought it was Halloween (prank) or something," said witness Tawhid Kabir, 20, of Queens. "I saw the gun(man) running in a circle and I realized it was serious."
Video showed four bodies scattered alongside the path on the West Side off the Hudson River. The truck crashed into another vehicle at West and Chambers Streets.
"We thought the guns were fake and it was a Halloween prank," said Stuyvesant High School student Laith Bahlouli, 14. "There was a car crash, and then he started to shoot."
Classmate Alif Rahman, 14, said they heard "four to six gunshots" and then spied two bodies covered with blankets by the NYPD.
A child was seen sitting on the lap of an adult wearing a neck brace after the incident.
"We all heard the gunfire," said witness Michael Corbin, who works at nearby District Council 37. "I heard distinctly five shots in quick succession."
Witnesses reported seeing a gunman firing from inside a Home Depot truck, and video showed a truck from the home improvement store sitting on a median.
"He shot about 15 times toward the pier and down West Street," one witness told the New York Daily News. There was no immediate word on deaths or injuries, although witnesses said two bodies were covered with blankets at the scene.
The smell of gun powder hung in the air as police shut down the West Side Highway midafternoon on Halloween.
Mayor Bill de Blasio was briefed on the situation, and confirmed that there was no active threat.
Witness Frank Brito, 45, told the Daily News he saw two trucks crash into each other and then a heavyset man in a blue tracksuit get out of one and chase someone, firing five or six times.
