New York Terror Suspect Rented Truck for Attack

On Tuesday, a driver drove a rented Home Depot truck down a bike lane in New York City, killing eight people and injuring at least 11 others. Authorities are calling it a terrorist attack.

The driver rented a flatbed truck from Home Depot. The truck is intended for rentals of one to two hours but can be rented at a daily, weekly, or monthly rate, according to Home Depot’s website. Currently, you need to be at least 21 years old and have a valid driver’s license to rent a truck from Home Depot.

In the past, the New York Police Department has instructed truck rental companies — including Home Depot locations — on how to identify suspicious customers, according to police officials. In a press conference, Deputy Commissioner John Miller said that the region’s vehicle rental industry has a “high level of awareness” of how to identify people who may carry out terrorist attacks.

Trucks and vans have been used several times in terrorist attacks in Europe in the past few years to deliberately hit crowds of people, says the report. These types of attacks have taken place in Britain, France, Germany, and Sweden.

Additionally, rental trucks were used to deliver bombs that detonated in the World Trade Center in 1993 and in the federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995.