NEW YORK – Police are searching for a police officer who opened fire in a smoky subway car on Tuesday night during a chaotic shooting that left at least 29 people injured.
The attacker, wearing a gas mask, pulled off a smoke canister before firing. He fled the Brooklyn platform in a panic, leaving a subway car full of crying commuters and bleeding victims. At least 10 people were shot and at least 19 others were taken to hospitals for injuries, ranging from smoke inhalation to shrapnel wounds.
Police helicopters hovered for hours over the Manhattan-bound N-train near Sunset Park in Brooklyn when authorities searched the scene, found a firearm, smoke devices and other items, according to two law enforcement officials who were not authorized to discuss the investigation and speak on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press.
WHAT WE KNOW:‘We will not allow New Yorkers to be terrorized’
Police have not released the name of a suspect, nor a motive. Authorities found a U-Haul van with Arizona license plates they were looking for in connection with the attack, but the car was empty, one official told the AP.
Police closed a street about four kilometers from the shooting range and worked to clear nearby businesses while waiting for a bomb squad and the highly specialized emergency services unit.
“Law enforcement has warned us of their search for a rental of and their possible connection to a suspect in today’s incident in New York City,” U-Haul and Sebastien Reyes said in a statement to USA TODAY. “We work closely with authorities… To ensure that they have all available information to meet their needs.”
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced last fall that it had installed security cameras in all 472 subway stations in the city, and said it would put criminals on an “expression track to justice.” But Mayor Eric Adams told WCBS that there was “some kind of malfunction with the camera system” at the subway station. It’s unclear if only one camera did not work or all, he said.
Adams told MSNBC that authorities found “solid evidence” and were “zero” on a possible identity of the gun. He said he could not put “a scheme” on an arrest.
Authorities obtained a photo of a possible suspect and are working to confirm his identity, two law enforcement officials told the AP.
Investigators believe the gunman’s weapon was in the driveway, which prevented the suspect from firing, officials said. The Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives completed an urgent trail to identify the manufacturer, seller and first owner of the rifle.
The attack spotted a city on guard over a rise in gun violence and the threat of terrorism. It left some New Yorkers nervous about driving the nation’s busiest subway system and prompted officials to increase police at transportation hubs from Philadelphia to San Francisco.
The shooting happened before 8:30 a.m. on an N-train to Manhattan in the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn, Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell said at a news conference.
The train was waiting to enter the 36th Street station when the man picked up the gas mask and opened the bus. The train filled with smoke as the man fired, Sewell said. The shooter, who described Sewell as a black man with a heavy build, was wearing a green vest and a gray sweatshirt, she said.
New York City Fire Department First Deputy Commissioner Laura Kavanagh said 10 people were shot. Sewell said none of the injuries were life-threatening.
Firefighters responded to a call about smoke at the subway station at 36th Street and 4th Avenue. Crews found the victims and several “unexploded ordnance”, according to a statement from the New York City Fire Department.
Sewell said Tuesday afternoon that there were no explosive devices on the train. The incident was not investigated as an act of terrorism “at this time”, but she asked for help from the public with photos, videos or information about the incident and the shooter.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said that “the sense of calm and normalcy of New Yorkers was brutally disturbed by an individual so cold-hearted and devastated at heart that they had no worries about the persons attacking them.”
President Joe Biden offered his prayers for the victims of the subway shooting and praised those who quickly jumped into action.
“We are grateful to all the first responders who took action, including citizens who do not hesitate to help their other passengers and try to protect them,” he said during a trip to an Iowa processing plant that produces ethanol. .
In addition to the gun victims, other people have suffered from smoke inhalation, shrapnel wounds and injuries related to the panic after the shooting, Kavanagh said.
Twenty-one people were taken to NYU Langone Hospital in Brooklyn after the attack. Ten were released Tuesday afternoon. The remaining 11 patients were treated for injuries, including gunshot wounds and smoke inhalation. They were all in stable condition, said spokeswoman Lacy Scarmana. New York Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital said three patients injured in the attack were treated. One was shot, another had a broken bone, and the third was not trauma-related. All three were in stable condition.
Five people were treated at Maimonides Medical Center, said spokeswoman Suzanne Tammaro. Three were treated for inhalation of smoke and release. The other two were shot, although the injuries were not life-threatening.
Avellana De La Cruz, 25, was texting her boss that she would be late for work while waiting on the subway when dozens of people, some with blood stains, began running out of the station. De La Cruz said people were crying and shouting while others were calling police or recording with their phones.
Confused, De La Cruz remained at the station until an announcement told the riders to evacuate. As De La Cruz left the station, a woman covered in blood with a wound on her face asked for help in finding police. Together they left the subway and found an ambulance.
“One minute I was on my phone, and the other everyone was running and crying,” De La Cruz said.
“It was chaos and difficult to focus on whether the attack was really over,” she said.
Tim O’Donnell, 31, who regularly commutes to Manhattan with the N train, said he was wearing headphones when he heard a conductor against riders boarding an R train across the platform. Then he heard the loudspeaker announcement to evacuate.
On the way out, O’Donnell said, he saw a man with his trouser leg rolled up and what appeared to be a bloody blow to his leg. O’Donnell said he thought the man might have fallen on the stairs in the pouring rain, but he got texts about the shooting when he went home.
Photos on social media showed shortly after reports of the shooting multiple people were bleeding on a smoky subway platform. De metro station serves the D, N and R lines, all of which run in Manhattan. Services on the lines in Brooklyn and some Manhattan stations were suspended, according to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
Rogelio Miranda, a cashier at a nearby supermarket, said he was working an early shift when a woman came in, shouted, “There’s blood all over the station” and ran into the toilet. The store remained open, and people came in to wait for taxis and Ubers, Miranda said.
“Violence on the subway is not new to our area, but to see so many people so scared and so many people saying they saw people under blood, it’s crazy,” Miranda said.
John Chiu, who works in sales around the corner from the subway station, said that about 10 minutes after he arrived at his office, he heard police sirens blaring.
“I thought it was just another accident because … honestly, it’s a daily occurrence,” said Chiu, who normally drives from his home in Flatbush to work.
Within a few minutes, Chiu knew it was something more. He checked to see if anyone who normally came to work on the subway. They all had. “It was a relief,” he said.
President Joe Biden was briefed on the situation, and White House staff was in contact with Adams and Sewell, tweeted Press Secretary Jen Psaki.
Adamswho picked up his schedule of public events after testing positive for the coronavirus, received continuous briefings, tweeted Fabien Levy.
“We will not allow New Yorkers to be terrorized, even by one individual,” Adams said in a short video,
Crime in the city’s extensive metro system has increased. Transit crime has increased by 68% compared to 2021, NYPD statistics show.
Adams published a security plan this year as part of efforts to reduce crime on the subway.
The metro system has been the target of several mass attacks. In December 2017, a homemade bomb detonated in a pedestrian tunnel connecting two train lines to a bus station in Midtown Manhattan. No one was killed, but three people were slightly injured. Akayed Ullah, a Bangladeshi immigrant, was convicted of terrorism charges for carrying out the attack on behalf of the Islamic State.
Dozens of riders were injured in December 1994 when two homemade petrol bombs exploded in a busy downtown area. 4 train that was stopped at Fulton Street station under the financial district of Manhattan. Edward Leary, a computer analyst in New Jersey, angry at the loss of his job, was convicted in 1996.
Najibullah Zazi, a legal resident of the US from Afghanistan, bought bomb-making components and drove them to New York, aiming for a series of strikes in September 2009.
When he learned that authorities were investigating the plot, he repulsed the explosives and drove back to Denver, where he was arrested. Then-Attorney General Eric Holder described the plot as “one of the most serious terrorist threats to our nation since September 11, 2001.”
“It could have been devastating,” Holder said.
Contribution: The Associated Press