New York: A New York man was shot dead Tuesday morning in New York on a crowded train, wearing a gas mask before firing two smoke bombs at the frightened passengers.
Police said the incident in Brooklyn was not being investigated as a terrorist act, and there were no indications of intent. No one was injured and his life was in danger.
New York Police Department Commissioner Keechant Sewell told a news conference that the gunman was wearing a gas mask when the train arrived at the station. The gunman “opened two cans of smoke from every underground vehicle,” Sewell said. “He then shot several passengers as the train entered the 36th Street station.”
In addition to the 10 people shot, 13 others were injured while trying to exit the station or inhaling smoke, according to officials. “We are really lucky that this was not a lot worse than you are,” Sewell said.
NYPD official James Essig said the gunman fired 33 shots. Police later found a nine-millimeter Glock 17 pistol, three bullet-proof magazines and a pinafore at the scene. Sewell said they identified the “interested person” and described him as “a dark-skinned man” wearing a neon orange vest and a gray-haired sweatshirt.
He has no one arrested, he added. Police were notified of the shooting before 8.30am.
Confirmed video footage posted on social media shows the train entering the 36th Street station, with smoke rising from the doors as passengers ran, some injured. One of them, Yav Montano, told CNN inside the car when it began to fill with smoke – and a gunshot rang out.
“At the moment I didn’t think it was a shooting because it sounded like explosives,” he said. “It sounds like it’s broken up.”
There were 40 to 50 passengers inside at the time and they started to fill up looking ahead, Montano said – but the next car door was closed.
“There were people in another car who saw what was happening. They tried to open the door but failed,” he said.
‘Much blood’
CNN broadcast a short video shot by Montano inside the car showing passengers packed together, some wearing masks and others pressing clothes on their mouths to prevent smoke.
“There were some people in their clothes, their pants were covered in blood,” said Montano, adding that he did not know who was injured. “All I know is that I can see, like, a lot of blood.”
When the train pulled into the platform, the doors flew open.
“People go out, people forget bags and shoes, they just leave everything so they can get out quickly,” Montano said.
Other images showed passengers watching blood-stained victims asleep at a smoke station, as well as subway crew members guarding frightened passengers, some holding their morning cups of coffee.
An eyewitness Sam Carmano, speaking to local radio station 1010 WINS, was on a subway train across the stage when a riot broke out.
“My subway door slammed open like a disaster and people, just running away from whatever was happening, then there was smoke and blood and people were crying,” he said.
Call witnesses
President Joe Biden, addressing the incident on a trip to Iowa, paid tribute to first responders and residents who “did not extend to help other passengers,” and said his team had been in close contact with New York officials.
“We will not stop until we find the perpetrator,” Biden vowed.
The NYPD has urged witnesses to contact the advice line for any information, and New York Governor Kathy Hochul has promised further updates as the investigation progresses.
Mass shootings occur more frequently in the United States, where guns are involved in the deaths of about 40,000 people a year, including suicide, according to the Gun Violence Archive website.
New York City shootings have escalated this year, with an increase in violent gun crime that has plagued Mayor Eric Adams since taking office in January. On April 3, the number of shootings rose to 296 from 260 in the same period last year, according to police.
The incident comes a day after Biden announced new gun control measures, raising barriers to so-called “ghost guns,” the hard-to-follow weapons that can be assembled at home.
Loose gun laws and a constitutionally guaranteed right to bear arms have repeatedly hampered efforts to reduce the number of weapons being distributed, except that the majority of Americans support greater control.
Three-quarters of all homicides in the United States are committed at gunpoint, and the number of guns, pistols and other firearms on sale continues to rise.
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