VIDEO: NYPD Officer Hailed as Hero for Stopping Terror Suspect

New York City officials are hailing Officer Ryan Nash, 28, for shooting and apprehending Sayfullo Habibullaevic Saipov, the suspect accused of mowing down at least eight people with a rented truck in lower Manhattan on Tuesday, reports NBC News.

"He was a hero," Gov. Andrew Cuomo said at a news conference Wednesday.

Nash was reportedly out on a routine call on Tuesday afternoon when he and his partner were summoned to help with a student at nearby Stuyvesant High School who had indicated that he wanted to kill himself.

But after Saipov crashed his truck into a school bus and ran into the streets, the officers darted to the scene, coming face-to-face with Saipov, who was toting what appeared to be weapons. That's when Nash opened fire, shooting Saipov in the abdomen. Authorities later said Saipov was armed with a pellet gun and a paintball gun.