Police search for gunman after 10 shot on New York subway

over 3 years in The Irish Times

Ten people were shot and five are in critical condition after a masked gunman attacked passengers on a rush-hour subway train in New York.
Officials said at least 16 people in total were injured in the attack at the 36th Street station in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park area just before 8.30am on Tuesday morning.
New York police commissioner Keechant Sewell said a passenger on the subway train had put on a gas mask, took out a canister from a bag and the carriage then began to fill with smoke.
Speaking at a press conference she said the suspect then opened fire, striking multiple people on the subway train and on the platform.
She said the attack was not being investigated as a terrorist act at this stage.



New York Police Department Commissioner Keechant L Sewell speaks to the media after the shooting. Photograph: Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images


The New York fire department said five people were in critical condition, but none of them had suffered life-threatening injuries.
Ms Sewell said the suspect was reported as a black male with a heavy build, wearing a green construction-type vest and a hooded sweatshirt.
New York governor Kathy Hochul said at a press conference on Tuesday: “This individual is still on the loose.”
“The NYPD, FDNY, state police, everyone involved in this has one purpose, and that’s to stop the insanity of these crimes.”
She said there was an active shooter situation under way and urged people in New York city to be vigilant.
Ms Hochul said she would commit the full resources of the state to stop a “surge in crime”.
The mayor of New York Eric Adams, who is currently in isolation after contracting Covid-19, described the attack as a “senseless act of violence inflicted against passengers” on the city’s subway system. He said a preliminary investigation was under way but authorities did not have a positive identification of the suspect.
Police said there were no known explosive devices on the subway.



New York City Police and Fire Department officials on the scene of a shooting at a New York City subway station in Brooklyn, New York. Photograph: Justin Lane/EPA



Several people were shot on the platform of the 36th Street subway station during the Tuesday morning rush, officials said. Photograph: Andrew Hinderaker/The New York Times


Investigators believe the suspect deployed a smoke device to distract people before opening fire in the subway carriage.
Video footage taken at the scene showed smoke and people pouring out of a subway carriage.
In other video and photos, people were seen tending to bloodied passengers lying on the platform and another person is on the floor of a subway carriage.
The incident happened on a subway line that runs through south Brooklyn in an area predominantly home to Hispanic and Asian communities, a 15-minute train ride from Manhattan.
Eyewitness Sam Carcamo told radio station 1010 WIN: “My subway door opened into calamity. It was smoke and blood and people screaming.”
He added that he saw smoke pouring out of the N train once the door opened.
Inside a subway carriage, one person could be seen lying on the floor, encircled by others. Outside the station, a police officer yelled: “Let’s go! Get out of the way!”
The White House and the Department of Justice said US president Joe Biden and attorney general Merrick Garland were briefed on the latest developments in the shooting. – Additional reporting: AP

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