U-Haul ‘rampage’ as driver plows into New Yorkers, tells cops: ‘Shoot me. I’m not stopping’

An unhinged man driving a U-Haul truck killed one person and injured at least seven others — including a police officer — in a “violent rampage” that overtook the streets and sidewalks of Brooklyn Monday, police said.

“Shoot me! I’m not stopping!’’ the crazed driver shouted at cops who tried to pull him over after he’d left a trail of victims in his wake, police sources said.

The violent saga — which left two victims critically wounded — began in Bay Ridge around 11 a.m. and ended about 30 minutes later and three miles away in Red Hook following a high-speed chase, authorities said.

Senior law enforcement sources identified the suspect as Weng Sor, a 62-year-old homeless man with no prior arrests in New York but a history of mental illness. Court records show he served prison time in Nevada for stabbing his brother in 2015 in Las Vegas.

After the maniac was taken into custody, he told the officers he “wanted to die,” sources said.

Two of the victims were listed in critical condition, two in serious condition and four suffered minor injuries, according to the FDNY. A ninth possible victim, a 51-year-old man, later walked into a hospital with a leg injury and claimed it was a result of the rampage.

Police said the mad motorist first hit at least one person riding an e-bike near Fifth Avenue and Bay Ridge Parkway in Bay Ridge around 11 a.m. before speeding off as cops gave pursuit.

He then rammed into seven other people at six separate locations heading north from Bay Ridge into Sunset Park, until he was finally stopped in Red Hook, cops said.

“The truck was flying, way too fast, and hit the guy and he went down,” said eyewitness Rua Bishara.

“Then it drove over him. It was horrible. The guy looked like he was dead. He was surrounded by people and he wasn’t moving.”

A retired Suffolk County cop who saw the mayhem called it “crazy.”

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Read more of The Post’s coverage on the Brooklyn U-Haul rampage

• One of the victims of the U-Haul rampage in Brooklyn has died from his injuries
• Family of NYC U-Haul driver who ran over 8 details history of violence, mental illness
• U-Haul ‘rampage’ as driver plows into New Yorkers, tells cops: ‘Shoot me. I’m not stopping’

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“The truck was coming down Bay Ridge Parkway and blew the light and smashed right into a scooter driver who is running in from Fifth,” the ex-cop said.

“He drove right over the guy, dragged him from the corner to the second tree … It was crazy.”

Another witness, Kida Rexhepi, whose family owns M&G Hair Salon on Third Avenue, told The Post, “It all happened so fast, it was like a tornado gone by, and when it was done, everyone came running to see what happened.”

A shocking surveillance video obtained by The Post shows the truck smash into the back of a moped — spinning the bike around and sending the driver to the ground — before jumping a curb and plowing through bikes left on the corner of 72nd Street and Third Avenue.

A pedestrian can be seen diving to avoid the U-Haul as an NYPD cruiser jumps onto the sidewalk in pursuit.

The driver sped off down Fourth Avenue — and rammed into a pedestrian, police said.

At least two other e-bike drivers were hit during the chase.

The truck then jumped on the Gowanus Expressway, where cops caught up to him at Columbia Street and Hamilton Avenue in Red Hook, the NYPD said. The driver was taken into custody on pending charges.

An NYPD spokesperson said the incident was not believed to be terror-related ad the violent mayhem appeared random, according to the sources, who said the driver could have been living out of the truck.

Cops gave him two tickets for traffic infractions on the Belt Parkway in that same truck just this month, according to the sources.

He also had one prior run-in with cops for a mental health call in 2019, the sources said. In that case, he was seen yelling and jumping into moving traffic on a street in Queens and taken to a local hospital for psychiatric evaluation, the sources added.

Police sources said the U-Haul was rented out of Florida in January.

“Behind us is a U-Haul truck stopped successfully by the NYPD, ending a violent rampage through Brooklyn that left at least eight people injured,” NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell said during a news briefing, adding that, “We know a very limited amount about the suspect at this time. That’s part of our investigation.”

The pedestrian struck on Fourth Avenue, a 36-year-old man, was rushed to NYU Langone Hospital, where he was fighting for his life in critical condition, police said.

Another victim, a 44-year-old man hit while riding an e-bike on Bay Ridge Parkway and Fifth Avenue was hospitalized in critical condition and later died.

A 38-year-old injured e-bike rider and three pedestrians, aged 32, 33 and 66, were listed in stable condition at Langone.

Another injured e-biker, 30, was in stable condition at Maimonides Medical Center, officials and sources said. The NYPD cop — who was injured after being hit by the e-bike struck at Bay Ridge Parkway and Fifth Avenue — was also in stable condition at Maimonides.

The victims’ names were not released by late Monday.

“Mayor Adams has been briefed and has been following developments regarding the U-Haul truck that struck multiple pedestrians this a.m. in Brooklyn,” a City Hall spokesman said.

A man driving a U-Haul went on a rampage in Bay Ridge. He was just apprehended in Sunset Park. Several people were hit and badly injured. We have no idea of motives at this time but this wasn't an accident. Thank you to @NYPD72Pct @NYPD68Pct. I will share more info when I can.

— Justin Brannan (@JustinBrannan) February 13, 2023

New York City Councilman Justin Brennan, whose district covers Bay Ridge, said it was unclear what sparked the rampage.

“We have no idea of motives at this time but this wasn’t an accident,” he wrote.

The U-Haul was searched by the NYPD’s bomb squad as a precaution following the arrest, a Post reporter observed and sources said.

The bomb squad later cleared the truck after finding some bottles of laundry detergent powder in the back, according to the sources.

The harrowing incident coincided with the start of the death penalty phase of Islamic extremist Sayfullo Saipov’s trial in Manhattan federal court. The ISIS-inspired terrorist fatally ran down eight people with a rented Home Depot truck off the West Side Highway on Oct. 31, 2017.

“That was the first thing that came to mind when I heard about the rented truck,” said former NYPD Chief of Detectives and ABC News contributor Robert Boyce, who worked the Saipov case.

“It’s difficult to link the two right now, but how can you not think about that?”