DC police: "Have to look at terrorism very closely" in truck attack

Did two men in a truck try to pull off a terrorist attack in Washington DC’s Adams Morgan neighborhood last night? Or was it an attack on law enforcement? Police say they need to look at terrorism as a motive “very closely,” as two police officers and another city employee recover from serious injuries. A weapon was found on two men in the truck, who now face charges in the assault:

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Two police officers are among those who have been taken to a hospital after being struck by a pickup truck at a busy Washington DC intersection.

The officers were on bicycles when the truck swerved around a bus, striking them at 9 p.m. local time. …

D.C. Metro Police Chief Peter Newsham says a weapon was recovered from the suspect’s vehicle.

When asked if he could rule out terrorism Newsham replied,”We have to look at that very closely. We do not have a motive at this time.”

Only the driver has been charged thus far with intent to kill, but both have face weapons charges:

Brandon Figures-Mormon, 22, of Disputanta, Virginia, and Dwayne Nicholas Taylor, 23, of Prince George, Virginia, were arrested Thursday night after their pickup truck plowed into the victims and then struck a dump truck.

Figures-Mormon has been charged with assault with intent to kill and possession of an unregistered firearm while Taylor was charged with possession of an unregistered firearm.

According to witnesses, some of whom went on social media last night to share their experience, the truck barreled into the officers at high speed, perhaps as fast as 50 miles per hour. That does not sound as if it was an accident, and clearly police and prosecutors have already reached that conclusion, as the charge on the driver indicates. That fits a recent pattern of terror by radical Islamists seen in other countries, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that this was the motive here. It might have just been an animus against the police, and/or an impulse attack. Usually vehicular terror attacks target large crowds rather than individual police. Until we know more, it’s best to refrain from jumping to any conclusions.

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Still, police are looking at that potential motive “very closely” for good reasons. They also got some good news this morning. NBC’s Washington affiliate updated viewers on the medical condition of the two police officers injured in the attack:

We’ll pray for their full recovery, and for police to get to the bottom of this attack quickly.

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