The New York Terrorist's Erratic Temper

The perpetrator of the New York truck terror attack was described by one close friend as "very nice", while another said he had a volatile temper.

» Portrait of New York terrorist and scary news

Sayfullo Saipov, 29, drove a pickup truck into cyclists and pedestrians, killing eight people and injuring more than a dozen.

After the brutal act, he got out of the truck with a gun and tried to flee but was shot in the stomach by the police. The subject was taken to a hospital in New York for treatment and is recovering well.

Sayfullo Saipov is being held by police. (Photo: St. Charles County Police)

Saipov is from Uzbekistan. He came to the United States in 2010 and was a resident of Fort Myers, Florida, where he worked as a truck driver. He later moved to Paterson, New Jersey, to work as an Uber driver.

A friend of Saipov described him as "a very good person".

Kobiljon Matkarov, 37, also from Uzbekistan, told the New York Times: "When we met him, he was a very nice person. He liked America. He seemed very lucky, and he was always cheerful, talking as if everything was fine. He didn't look like a terrorist, but I didn't know his heart."

Meanwhile, according to the manager of a local supermarket, Saipov was a "temperamental" customer who often berated the supermarket cashier.

“Every time he comes in, he’s always acting erratic or arguing with the cashier. He gets angry very quickly…” – the manager of Farm Boy Super Fresh supermarket on Getty Avenue in Patterson told the New York Post.

The manager added that Saipov was very rude, calling the cashiers "uneducated."

“I felt he was prejudiced against cashiers,” she said. “He spoke fluent, precise English, but he would call cashiers uneducated and stupid – they didn’t know how to scan barcodes on items.”

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said the attack appeared to be a “lone wolf” incident as there was no apparent link to a wider terrorist plot. However, Saipov left a note in the truck – including a note in Arabic declaring his allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) group.

According to CNN, Saipov has no criminal record but has been stopped by police many times for traffic violations.

According to Vietnamnet