More details emerge about the NYPD officer who shot suspected terrorist

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iStock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — A 28-year-old New York City police officer has been identified as the man who shot and injured the suspect in Tuesday’s deadly truck attack in New York City, which is being investigated as an act of terrorism.

Officer Ryan Nash, a five-year NYPD veteran assigned to the First Precinct, was one of the first officers to respond to the scene in lower Manhattan Tuesday afternoon, and he fired the shot that struck the suspect.

Nash was subsequently treated at a hospital for tinnitus, or ringing in the ears, and then released.

Nash has two awards for Excellent Police Duty and one for Meritorious Police Duty from the NYPD. He lives on Long Island with his girlfriend.

Officials praised the officer’s quick response, saying at a news conference Tuesday he stopped the carnage moments after it began.

The chaos began at about 3:05 p.m., when the suspect drove a vehicle — a Home Depot rental truck, according to the company — onto the West Street pedestrian and bike path north of Chambers Street, hitting multiple people on the path, New York City police said. The truck drove south and collided with a school bus on Chambers Street near Stuyvesant High School, injuring two school staff members and two children, police said.

 After the collision, the truck driver exited the vehicle brandishing what appeared to be two handguns, police said. Nash confronted the suspect and shot him in the abdomen. The suspect was wounded and transported to a hospital, police said.

A paintball gun and a pellet gun were recovered at the scene, police said.

 Six of the deceased victims were pronounced dead at the scene; two more died at a nearby hospital. Police said 13 were wounded with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

The crash occurred in an area near multiple city schools, and many were placed on a temporary lockdown after the crash.

In a press conference Tuesday, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio called the incident a “cowardly act of terror.”

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