Ivan Elizondo/iStock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — New York’s annual Village Halloween Parade continued as scheduled Tuesday evening despite a terror attack earlier in the day that killed eight people.
Participants dressed in an array of costumes took to the city streets for the Halloween festivities. The New York Police Department said it was adding more officers and blocker trucks along the parade route in response to the attack, said Eric Phillips, press secretary for New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. Over 2 million people attend the Halloween event, which is also broadcast on TV.
The 44th annual parade began at 7 p.m. at 6th Avenue in Greenwich Village, according to the parade’s website. Only costumed participants were allowed to march in the parade.
De Blasio and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo were among those who attended the parade.
“We go forward together and we go forward stronger than ever. We’re not going to let them win, and if we change our lives, we contort ourselves to them, then they win and we lose,” Cuomo said in a press conference Tuesday afternoon in front of NYPD headquarters.
Eight people were killed and several were injured after a man driving a rented Home Depot truck plowed into pedestrians and cyclists on a bike path in lower Manhattan after 3 p.m.
Multiple law enforcement sources identified the suspect as 29-year-old Tampa resident Sayfullo Saipov. He was taken into custody after he was shot by police.
Authorities were investigating the crash as a possible terror attack, officials said.
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