The driver was in custody, per police. Chris Jose with the latest from Crown Heights.
A man drove his vehicle into the Chabad Lubavitch Headquarters in Brooklyn on Wednesday, drawing a massive police and emergency response to what authorities are investigating as a hate crime.
Law enforcement sources told News 4 that a person was in custody in connection with the incident, which happened shortly before 9 p.m. on Eastern Parkway in Crown Heights.
A 2012 Honda Accord sedan that had hit the building was found mounted on the sidewalk at the scene. The driver struck the back door of the building once and then reversed the car to ram the door a second time, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a press conference on Wednesday.
Watch NBC 4 free wherever you are
The NYPD’s bomb squad inspected the vehicle with a full sweep, in which no explosives were found. It had New Jersey plates.
No injuries were reported as a result of the collision.
Tisch said the case is being investigated as a hate crime. Out of abundance of caution, police have also escalated security around houses of worship across the five boroughs, she noted.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani also appeared at the site on Wednesday, calling the crash “deeply alarming”.
I am at 770 Chabad World Headquarters in Crown Heights, where a man intentionally, and repeatedly, crashed his car into the building. I am relieved that no one was injured in this horrifying incident.
This is deeply alarming, especially given the deep meaning and history of the…
The Anti-Defamation League of New York and New Jersey said it was “deeply disturbed” by reports of the incident and thanked law enforcement for their response in a social media post.
“This building is not only a synagogue, but also the worldwide Chabad.org Headquarters and a beloved symbol of Judaism around the world,” the group said.
