Disturbed U-Haul Driver Kills 1 Person, Injures 8 in Brooklyn Ramming Spree

Reuvain Borchardt and Matis Glenn

BROOKLYN — An emotionally disturbed man with a history of violence went on a ramming rampage with a U-Haul truck in Brooklyn’s Bay Ridge neighborhood Monday morning, killing one person and injuring eight, in seven locations over 48 minutes before being taken into police custody.

Police did not identify the suspect, but sources identified him to Hamodia as Weng Sor, 62, an emotionally disturbed Asian male. Police do not attribute the incident to terrorism.

The rammings began at approximately 10:17 a.m., and went on for 48 minutes until police stopped the vehicle and arrested Sor.

At least four of the eight injured had minor wounds, with the others seriously or critically hurt. One of the injured included a police officer who had responded to the scene.

Following are the locations of the incidents with partial breakdown of the injuries at each location, according to police.

— 10:17 a.m., 36-year-old man on 4th Avenue and 55th Street, leg injury.

— 10:30 a.m., 34-year-old man on Senator Street and 5th Avenue: torso injury.

— 10:30 a.m., 30-year-old on Bay Ridge Parkway and 7th Avenue: riding on an e-bike, leg injury.

— 10:36 a.m., 51-year-old man Bay Ridge Avenue and 12th Avenue: riding on an e-bike, head injury.

— 10:48 a.m. A 44-year-old man who was riding an e-bike on Bay Ridge Avenue and 5th Avenue: was struck and sustained severe head injuries. He succumbed to his wounds Monday night.

— 10:50 a.m. 38-year-old man on Bay Ridge Parkway and 7th Avenue , ankle injury.

— 11:05 a.m. 33-year-old police officer and 32-year-old male civilian were struck on 72nd Street and 3rd Avenue. The offficer was injured in his leg, and the civlian was injured in his torso.

— 11:05 a.m. 66-year-old man on 73rd Street and 3rd Avenue, neck and knee injury.

The victims were taken to Maimonides and NYU-Langone hospitals.

The U-Haul was finally brought to a stop at Hamilton Ave. and Columbia Street near the Brooklyn-bound side of the Hugh L. Carey Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, in front of a Tunnel administrative building. After the U-Haul had mounted the curb, a police vehicle cut across to block its path, and the driver was arrested.

The area was closed as an NYPD Bomb Squad was called to investigate the vehicle, but no explosive materials were found.

“At this time, we have no indication that there is any terrorism involvement in this incident,” Sewell said. “However, as always, we will continue to investigate this incident with the full resources of the NYPD and our partners.”

A Boro Park resdent told Hamodia he was driving in Bay Ridge on Monday morning when he witnessed some of the rammings.

“I was heading to Lakewood, and I was stopped by a light at Fort Hamilton Parkway and Bay Ridge Parkway, when I see a U-Haul smashing into what looked like a parked moped,” said the witness, who asked to be identified only as Moshe. “The the U-Haul smashed into a white car on Fort Hamilton Parkway waiting by the light, denting his side. He made a right onto Fort Hamilton Pkway toward 76th street, and the guy in the white car quickly made a U-turn and started chasing the U-Haul. I saw him following it onto 77th Street.

“He did not speed off, but drove away slowly,” recalled Moshe. “So, I thought the U-Haul driver just didn’t know how to handle the truck and had hit the vehicles accidentally. I did not realize I was not witnessing an intentional attack.”

Sor’s son, Stephen Sor, 30, told The Associated Press that his father had a history of mental illness and, until recently, was living in Las Vegas, where records show he was convicted and served time for multiple acts of violence, including stabbing his own brother.

“Very frequently he’ll choose to skip out on his medications and do something like this,” Stephen Sor said in an interview outside his Brooklyn home. “This isn’t the first time he’s been arrested. It’s not the first time he’s gone to jail.”

Sor rented the truck in West Palm Beach, Florida on Feb. 1 and was due to return it there on March 3, U-Haul spokesperson Jeff Lockridge said. He provided a valid driver’s license and paid for a 30-day rental in advance. U-Haul had no record of Sor previously renting from the company, Lockridge said.

Stephen Sor said he was surprised when Weng Sor showed up in Brooklyn in the middle of the night about a week ago. He said they didn’t speak often and described their relationship as “rocky.”

“I try to just distance, as long as he leaves us alone,” Stephen Sor said.

In 2015, Weng Sor stabbed his brother in Las Vegas and served about 17 months in a Nevada prison, according to court and prison records. In 2020, he stabbed someone in the arm and chest with a knife and was sentenced to 364 days in county jail, with about 10 months of time already served.

Before pleading guilty in that case, Sor underwent several months of evaluations at state psychiatric facilities until he was found competent to face charges, court records show. The records don’t list a possible diagnosis, but note that Sor was placed on medications.

In an earlier Nevada case, Sor was ordered to undergo counseling and perform community service after pleading guilty to misdemeanor battery in 2005. The judge noted at the time that Sor was moving to New York and ordered him to submit to a mental-health evaluation once there.

The incident occurred on the same day as the beginning of the death-penalty phase in the trial of Sayfullo Saipov, an Islamic extremist who killed eight people in 2017 by hitting them over with a rented truck on the West Side Highway in Manhattan. It is not known if there is a link between the two crimes.

AP contributed to this report.