Suicidal U-Haul driver, 62, who mowed down eight people in Brooklyn has ‘history of mental illness’

Weng Sor, 62, plowed his U-Haul truck into multiple people at various locations throughout Brooklyn on Monday morning

A man who drove his rented U-Haul into a crowd of people on Monday morning, injuring eight, told police he ‘wanted to die,’ according to a report – while his son and brother-in-law said he had a long history of mental illness and had served time in prison.

Weng Sor, 62, smashed his truck into the sidewalk, hitting a cyclist, pedestrians and a police officer in the Sunset Park district of Brooklyn.

He hit people along the road, creating at least seven different crime scenes, NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell said, and telling police who tried to pull him over: ‘Shoot me. I’m not stopping.’

When he was eventually detained, he told officers he ‘wanted to die,’ according to The New York Post. 

Two of the victims were listed in critical condition, two in serious condition and four suffered minor injuries, according to the FDNY.

Sor’s son said his father – who police told DailyMail.com was ’emotionally disturbed’ and homeless – frequently skipped taking his medication.

Sor’s U-Haul, which he rented from out of New York state, was eventually stopped in the Red Hook district of Brooklyn

Surveillance footage shows the U-Haul seconds before striking a cyclist in Bay Ridge 

‘Very frequently he’ll choose to skip out on his medications and do something like this,’ said Stephen Sor, 30, in an interview with AP outside his Brooklyn home. 

‘This isn’t the first time he’s been arrested. It’s not the first time he’s gone to jail.’

Court records show Sor was sentenced to one to three years in a Nevada prison for stabbing his brother in Las Vegas in 2015. 

The son said his father had been living in Las Vegas with his own mother, and they did not communicate frequently. 

He said he was shocked when his father showed up in Brooklyn about a week ago, in the middle of the night. 

He described his relationship with his father as ‘rocky,’ AP reported, and said his father had a history of mental illness.

He said his father often refused to take his medications, and was frequently disruptive.

‘I try to just distance, as long as he leaves us alone,’ he said.

Daryl Singer, Sor’s brother-in-law, told The Post: ‘He’s a schizophrenic. He’s crazy.’

He added: ‘I always said he’s probably going to kill himself one day, that’s the way I saw it. He just doesn’t know how to lead a normal life.’

Singer said Sor was known to ‘make threats’, and said he was unsafe to be out on the streets.

‘I’m not surprised by any of this,’ Singer said. ‘He belongs in an institution for the rest of his life… tied to the bed, away from everybody.

‘Because he might freak out. He might just kill somebody.’

Another video shows a pedestrian narrowly avoiding being hit by the rampaging driver

Sor’s abandoned U-Haul is pictured on Monday in the Red Hook neighborhood of Brooklyn

Sor rented the U-Haul from out of state, it is believed. His son said he arrived in New York unannounced last week

Police said Sor has no criminal history in New York, but his son said he has been in prison before

Debris is seen left on the sidewalk after Sor’s rampage

A street in the Bay Ridge area of Brooklyn is taped off as multiple crime scenes are investigated

Singer, who lives in Las Vegas, said Sor moved to Florida without explanation several months ago.

‘The mother does all she can for him because she’s all he’s got. She’s helped him out so much, renting a room for him and he screwed that up, getting kicked out of three different places that he’s lived,’ Singer told The Post.

‘He used to work, and then what happened one day was he decided to get a bus ticket and go to Florida. 

‘And that was the last thing that I heard about him from anybody. None of the family members talk about anything he’s done.

‘They’re scared of him,’ he said of the family. 

‘He’s just whacked in his head. I don’t know why. Everyone else in the family is normal. He’s the only one that’s not.’

Singer told the paper that Sor’s behavior had been erratic for many years. 

‘We’ve gone out to dinner when he was living here and everything seemed normal at first,’ he recalled. 

‘He just doesn’t take his meds for his problem, and he starts talking weird stuff — church and God and Satan, and everybody’s gonna get killed pretty soon.

‘His mother’s telling him, ‘Stop it,’ and he just rambles on.’

Sor’s motive remains unclear, and police sources said he has no criminal history in New York. 

His rampage began at around 11am when he struck down multiple people on 5th Avenue and Bay Ridge Parkway, and then drove north. 

Harrowing surveillance footage from some of the stores that line his route show him mowing into a cyclist. 

He was eventually stopped in Red Hook, 30 minutes later. 

Suriel Ponce, a 26-year-old construction worker, tried to chase the U-Haul and yelled at the driver to stop.

‘We started running and yelling for the guy to stop and when we came back, the guy he hit was on the floor,’ Ponce told DailyMail.com. 

‘He was an Asian guy bleeding out of his mouth. We saw they took him in an ambulance and he wasn’t moving. We grabbed a GrubHub bag that was on the ground. We weren’t sure if the GrubHub bag was his.’

Ponce continued: ‘The U-Haul driver completely took the motorcycle with him, completely took it down a couple of avenues. 

‘He was hopping red lights. He wouldn’t stop – people were screaming. It was really bad.’

Ponce said he and his boss chased the U-Haul down the street, yelling at him to stop.

‘We thought the guy didn’t notice or hear anything and we were trying to tell him to stop,’ he said. 

‘He just kept going and didn’t stop at all. Just kept going.’

Ponce said that Sor returned, driving past them again 15 minutes later. 

‘He came back around the block again for a second time,’ Ponce said. 

‘He had already hit people up on the block the first time he came around. It was crazy.’

Members of the NYPD bomb squad examine a rental truck that was stopped and the driver arrested, Monday, Feb. 13, 2023, in New York

It is unclear how seriously any of the victims are hurt. The NYPD is yet to confirm many of the details but it’s believed the driver of the U-Haul is in custody

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The scene in Bay Ridge this afternoon after the U-Haul truck crashed into pedestrians and a cop

The inside of the U-Haul that was driven today by Weng Sor, 62

Another man, who gave his name as Ray, told DailyMail.com he owns a business on the road, and was in his car on his way to work when he saw the driver in the U-Haul on Bay Ridge Parkway

‘He was driving through the street erratically and the cops were chasing him,’ said Ray. 

‘He cut through a light and cut right in front of me. 

‘He almost ran down my customer who was walking across the street with his child in the stroller. 

‘I saw the truck with a scooter stuck in the front bumper.’

The incident coincides with the first day of the death penalty trial phase of Sayfullo Saipov, who killed eight people in a rented Home Depot truck on the West Side Highway in 2017. 

Sewell, the NYPD Commissioner, said there was no evidence that Monday’s incident was terror-related.

New York City councilman Justin Brannan said two of the victims were ‘badly hurt’. 

All have been taken to NYU Langone Health. 

‘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,’ said Brannan. 

‘We have no idea of motives at this time but this wasn’t an accident.

‘Suspect was actually arrested near the BK Battery Tunnel. We think he hit at least 6 people with the truck and 2 are in very bad shape.  

‘PLEASE pray for these folks.’ 

New York City Mayor Eric Adams has been briefed but is yet to give any kind of statement. 

City Hall said there is not thought to be any other credible threat. 

‘NYC Mayor has been briefed and has been following developments regarding the UHaul truck that struck multiple pedestrians this AM in Brooklyn. 

‘While the suspect is in custody, the NYPD is still investigating. 

‘There are no additional credible threats at this time,’ a statement said.