Vehicle Ramming Attacks





 

At least eight people have been killed in New York after a pickup truck plowed down a bike path in lower Manhattan this afternoon (October 31, 2017). The driver was shot and taken into police custody. Authorities are treating the incident as a terror attack.

 

The attacker who turned a Home Depot truck into a deadly weapon in New York City, used a method that has become familiar in terror attacks across the world. He was identified by two law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation as Sayfullo Habibullaevic Saipov. The suspect is from the central Asian nation of Uzbekistan and came to the United States in 2010.  Witnesses reported that Saipov was yelling "Allahu Akbar," as he rammed his vehicle into cyclists along a bike path.

 

Today's terrorist attack is similar to others that have occured this year: 

• In August 2017, Younes Abouyaaqoub drove a van into the crowded Las Ramblas mall in Barcelona, killing at least 13 and injuring more than 130. Another suspect, Moussa Oukabir, is thought to have rented the van. Oukabir, a teenager, was suspected of using his brother’s documents to hire the vehicle.
• In June 2017 three terrorists killed eight people after driving a van into pedestrians on London Bridge before attacking nearby revellers. It later emerged the group had initially tried to hire a 7.5-tonne truck but were unsuccessful.
• In April 2017, a hijacked truck was deliberately driven into crowds in Stockholm, Sweden, killing five and injuring 14 others.
• In March 2017, Khalid Masood, a British citizen, rented the 4x4 he used to mow down pedestrians on London’s Westminster Bridge in March, killing four people, then fatally stabbed a policeman before being shot dead by police.
• The most devastating of such attacks happened in July 2016 when Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel used a hired 19-tonne cargo truck to kill 86 people in Nice on Bastille Day. Then in December a truck was deliberately driven into a crowded Christmas market in Berlin, killing 12. On that occasion Anis Amri hijacked a truck before driving it into the crowd.

 

Protective Measures Against Vehicle Ramming Attacks

 

Watch for danger signs.  Be alert for speeding vehicles, sounds of collisions, revving engines, or sudden unusual vehicle movements.  If you see or hear something that is outside of the norm for your environment, don’t just blow it off.  Look around and actively figure out if you are in danger.  During attacks like these, a second or two of forewarning can be the difference between life and death.

 

Don’t loiter in any spaces that the terrorists can use as drive lanes. If you are walking on a busy street and need to stop in order to tie your shoes, write a text, or speak with a friend, stop at a spot on the sidewalk that offers you some protection from a car hopping the curb. The gaps between the parked cars are the likely routes the terrorists will use to get onto the sidewalk.  Don’t stand there.  You are much safer if you keep a parked car between you and the traffic lane.

 

Move indoors immediately, but don’t stay there.  A sturdy structure offers a decent refuge from a vehicle driven by a terrorist intent on killing people.  Get inside quickly.  Stay away from large glass windows/doors and exterior walls.  Once you get inside, you are relatively safe against a vehicular attack. The problem is created, however, when waiting with a large group of people indoors exposes you to risks from terrorist attacks that are conducted in the more traditional manner of shooting, bombing, and stabbing.  You don’t want to be huddled up into a tight group without an escape route.

 

Don’t rush to help the injured. Immediately after the attack, you may feel compelled to rush in and help those who have been hurt.  Take a moment and assess the scene before wading into the chaos.  Is the crashed vehicle a danger?  Are there people in the area shooting or cutting people with knives?  Is it possible that there is more than one attacker? 

 

Stay away from the attack vehicle and be alert for secondary attacks.  Here’s my prediction for the next evolution of this type of attack. Terrorists will place a bomb in the car they used to run people over. Explosives set to go off 10 minutes after the vehicle attack. It’s the perfect secondary device. The bomb will kill all the first responders and anyone giving aid to the victims.

 

Don’t draw your firearm while you are attempting to figure out what’s happening.  Those of you who regularly carry firearms may decide that the best course of action is to shoot the attack vehicle driver or his terrorist accomplices.  That’s great. Just recognize that it’s going to take you a few seconds to figure out what’s happening.  Keep your gun in your holster while you are evaluating the situation and making your hasty battle plan.

 



When shooting through a windshield fire multiple times, and remember that bullets deflect downward when fired into a vehicle through the windshield. Auto Glass is a very challenging tactical barrier. It is a hard and very strong material that universally deforms and deflects the handgun bullets that pass through it. The heavier the bullet, the less deflection. In tests a 230 grain FMJ (.45 ACP) deflected the least, while a 115 grain 9mm FMJ round deflected the most.