WATCH: NYPD Cop From LI Who Ended NYC Terrorist Attack Speaks

The NYPD officer from Long Island who put an end to Tuesday's terrorist attack in Manhattan says he was just doing his job when he fired a shot into the abdomen of 29-year-old Sayfullo Saipov.

Officer Ryan Nash, of Medford, spoke briefly during a press conference in Patchogue Wednesday evening.

"I appreciate the public recognition of the actions of myself and my fellow officers yesterday," Nash, 28, said. "Although I feel that we were just doing our job like thousands of officers do every day, I understand the importance of yesterday's events."

Nash is receiving worldwide recognition for his role in ending the attack in Lower Manhattan that left eight people dead and injured a dozen more.

"Thank you for your bravery & quick action in stopping yesterday's terrorist attack," former New York City Police Commissioner Bill Bratton wrote about Nash on Twitter. "Truly one of New York's Finest."

According to investigators, Saipov rented a pickup truck from a Home Depot in Passaic, N.J. at 2:06 p.m. He drove it across the George Washington Bridge and exited onto the West Side Highway at 2:43 p.m.

Officials said nothing about the rental seemed suspicious to employees at the store, who are cooperating with investigators.

When he got to Houston Street at 3:04 p.m., Saipov drove off West Street and started speeding down the bike path, running over cyclists and pedestrians along the way, said John Miller, the NYPD's deputy counterterrorism commissioner, citing video footage and interviews with witnesses. He collided with a school bus at Chambers Street a few minutes later, injuring several others.

More than a dozen calls flooded 911 at 3:08 p.m. reporting the crash, pedestrian injuries and a man who appeared to be waving a gun, Miller said. Three cops from the NYPD's 1st Precinct got to the scene. One of them, Nash, shot Saipov in the stomach, "bringing the attack to an end," Miller said.

Photo by Frank Eltman/Associated Press: New York City Police Officer Ryan Nash speaks to reporters at the Suffolk County Police Department's Fifth Precinct on Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2017, in Patchogue, N.Y. Nash shot the driver of a rental truck that ran down pedestrians and bicyclists in a suspected terrorism attack in New York City on Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2017. Nash read from a brief prepared statement but declined to answer any questions because of an ongoing investigation into the incident.