New Milford Terror Victim Mourned At Funeral

NEW MILFORD, NJ — Friends and family gathered to remember Darren S. Drake, the borough man who was killed in last week's terror attack in New York City.

Solemn bagpipes played as people cried and hugged outside the Church of the Ascension Monday morning at Drake's funeral.

Drake, 32, was cycling on a bike path in lower Manhattan Tuesday when authorities say Sayfullo Saipov, 29, carried out the terrorist strike according to directions from the Islamic State group, John Miller, the NYPD's counterterrorism commissioner, previously said.

Drake was a former president of the New Milford Board of Education. He worked as a project manager for Moody's in New York City. He would often ride a bike on his lunch break.

"He was just a great kid, absolutely fantastic and did everything he could for others," Vincent Wymbs told the Associated Press at the funeral. "He followed in the footsteps of others I know he loved the Lord upstairs very much."

Saipov ran out of the truck with pellet and paintball guns, pointing them at people, authorities previously said. A New York City police officer shot him in the abdomen and he was taken to Bellevue Hospital where he requested an ISIS flag be hung in his room. Authorities said they found notes in the truck where Saipov reportedly admitted to carrying out the attack in the name of the middle east-based terrorist organization.

Seven other people died in the attack besides Drake and a dozen more were injured as the result of the attack. Saipov, a Uzbek immigrant from Paterson, allegedly carried out the attack in a Home Depot truck he rented from a Passaic, New Jersey store, authorities said.

Read more:

• NYC Terror Latest: Attacker Followed ISIS Instructions, NYPD Says
• Alleged NYC Attacker Was NJ Uber Driver, Gave 1,400 Rides

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Photo: Darren S. Drake/Patch file photo/ Candle image via Shutterstock