Gas-mask-wearing man attacks NYC subway
At least 29 injured; gun jammed during assault
NEW YORK – Police searched for a gunman who opened fire in a smokefilled subway car in a chaotic rush-hour shooting Tuesday that led to at least 29 people being injured.
The attacker, wearing a gas mask, set off a smoke canister before shooting. He fled the Brooklyn subway platform in the panic, leaving a train car filled with screaming 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 above the Manhattan-bound N train in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park neighborhood as authorities investigated the scene, finding a firearm, smoke devices and other items, according to two law enforcement officials who were not authorized to discuss the investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.
Police did not release a suspect’s name, nor a motive. They looked for a U-Haul truck with Arizona license plates in connection to the attack.
New York Police Department officers were told that if they spotted the truck, they should stop it.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams said in an interview with WCBS that there was “some form of malfunction with the camera system” at the subway station.
Investigators believe the gunman’s weapon jammed, preventing him from continuing to fire, officials said. The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives completed an urgent trace to identify the gun’s manufacturer, seller and initial owner.
The shooting occurred before 8:30 a.m. on a Manhattan-bound N train in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park neighborhood, Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell said at a news conference.
The train was waiting to enter the 36th Street station when the man put on the gas mask and opened the canister. The train filled with smoke as the man fired, Sewell said. The shooter, whom Sewell described as a Black male with a heavy build, wore a green construction vest and a gray sweatshirt.
Fire Department First Deputy Commissioner Laura Kavanagh said 10 people were shot. Sewell said none of the injuries was life-threatening.
Firefighters responded to a call about smoke at the subway station at 36th Street and 4th Avenue. Crews found the shooting victims and several “undetonated devices,” according to a New York City Fire Department statement.
Sewell said Tuesday there were no known explosive devices on the train. The incident was not being investigated as an act of terrorism “at this time,” but she asked for the public’s assistance with any photos, videos or information about the incident and shooter.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said New Yorkers’ “sense of tranquility and normalness was disrupted brutally by an individual so cold-hearted and depraved of heart that they had no caring about the individuals that they assaulted.”
In addition to the gunshot victims, others 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. Ten were released by Tuesday afternoon. The 11 remaining patients were treated for injuries including gunshot wounds and smoke inhalation. They were all in stable condition, spokeswoman Lacy Scarmana said.
New York-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital said three patients injured in the attack were treated. One was shot, another had a fractured bone, and the third was not trauma-related. All three were in stable condition.
Five people were treated at Maimonides Medical Center, spokeswoman Suzanne Tammaro said. Three were treated for smoke inhalation and released. The other two had been shot, though the injuries weren’t life-threatening.