Uber has confirmed that suspected terrorist Sayfullo Saipov–who drove a vehicle down a bike path near the World Trade Center site, killing eight people–was one of its drivers.
The ride-hailing service released a statement Tuesday night, Oct. 31, saying 29-year-old Saipov passed a background check to become an Uber driver and had been actively driving on the platform for more than six months. Saipov has since been banned from the Uber app.
The company says it has reached out to law enforcement to provide its full assistance and is “aggressively and quickly reviewing” the suspect’s history with Uber.
Uber says it is “horrified by this senseless act of violence.”
A U.S. official familiar with the investigation into what happened says Saipov is from Uzbekistan and came to the U.S. in 2010.
Saipov hired a utility vehicle from Home Depot, which he used to mow down dozens of cyclists and pedestrians on the bike path in lower Manhattan.
