New York City police hunt for attacker who shot 10 in Brooklyn subway
NEW YORK — The New York Police Department was engaged in a manhunt for the suspect in a mass shooting in a Brooklyn subway car on Tuesday that left 29 passengers injured.
Ten of the injured sustained gunshot wounds. Five of them were in critical condition, but their injuries were not life-threatening, a New York City Fire Department spokesperson said at a press conference at the scene.
New York officials said the attack was not being investigated as a terror incident, instead tying the incident to gun violence, but did not rule out a terror motive.
The attack occurred just before 8:24 a.m. when an individual wearing a grey hooded sweatshirt and a green vest donned a gas mask on a subway car, opened a gas canister that filled the car with smoke, and opened fire on passengers as the train pulled into the station in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park neighborhood, according to the NYPD.
Police described the suspect as a 5’5″ heavyset Black male. There are no other known suspects.
The suspect’s targets did not fit any profile or belong to a particular ethnic group, said New York City Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell, adding that the shooter may have been dressed as a construction or transportation worker.
The non-gunshot injuries were caused by shrapnel, smoke inhalation and symptoms of panic, the New York Fire Department said.
The shrapnel could have been caused by gunfire, a fire department spokesperson said.
The entrance to a subway station where a gunman shot 10 people in Brooklyn, New York City, April 12, 2022. (Luke Tress/Times of Israel)
“This individual is still on the loose and is still dangerous,” New York State Governor Kathy Hochul said at the scene. “This is an active shooter situation right now in the city of New York.”
“I’m committing the full resources of the state to fight this surge in crime, this insanity in our city,” said Hochul, whose lieutenant governor was indicted on corruption charges on Tuesday morning.
“Everyone involved in this has one purpose — to stop the insanity of these crimes,” Hochul said.
Sewell said that the attack was not being investigated as terrorism, but that she was “not ruling out anything.”
“We’re determining what that motive is and we’ll find that out as the investigation continues,” Sewell said.
The security cameras at the station were not working at the time of the attack, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said, hampering the investigation.
Police canvassed the neighborhood, seeking out witnesses and security camera footage from area residents and businesses.
Police officers were stationed on street corners in a wide area around the scene of the shooting after it took place. Emergency vehicles with their lights flashing patrolled the area and a helicopter hovered overhead.
Police cordoned off the area, which was thronged by around 200 fire personnel, transit workers, medical responders, and police, including officers armed with assault rifles and accompanied by police dogs.
New York police at the scene of a mass shooting in Brooklyn, April 12, 2022. (Luke Tress/Times of Israel)
Much of the city’s subway system was disrupted, causing delays and frustration to passengers in Brooklyn and other boroughs. The Metro Transit Authority said there will be major delays to the subway system citywide.
A neighborhood resident said the response was to the shooting was “like 9/11, crazy as that sounds.”
“The sirens, the fire trucks, the police cars, the ambulances, the helicopters, even. It was like 9/11, it was constant. I said, ‘Something big must be going on.’”
US President Joe Biden was briefed on the incident and said he was “praying for those injured.”
“My team has been in touch with city officials and we are working to support efforts on the ground,” Biden said.
A spokesman for the Israeli Consulate in New York said he was not aware of any Israelis who were injured in the shooting.
Police said officers were inspecting all subway stations and trains in the city’s massive transit system, and called on the public’s help locating the subject, encouraging anyone with potentially helpful information to call the NYPD.
Schools in surrounding parts of Brooklyn were sheltering in place.
Multiple people shot at 36 street station by two people in #sunsetpark. All are currently being transported to the hospital #NewYork #Brooklyn pic.twitter.com/3Va2iXf0JQ
— Derek French Photo (@derekcfrench) April 12, 2022
The incident occurred in the Sunset Park neighborhood at 36th Street and 4th Avenue, at a station for the D, N, and R subway lines. The NYPD called on New Yorkers to avoid the area.
An NYPD bomb squad was on the scene and a fire department spokesperson said undetonated possible explosive devices were found there.
Agencies contributed to this report.