Subway shooting in Brooklyn, New York: several injured, authorities say

(CNN) –– A train passenger put on a gas mask, activated a gas canister and then opened fire, shooting 10 passengers as a Manhattan-bound subway train headed toward a station in Brooklyn, New York, on Tuesday morning, they said. The authorities.

Five of the 10 people who were shot are in critical but stable condition and six others were injured in the morning attack, New York Fire Department First Deputy Commissioner Laura Kavanaugh said. The injuries are not believed to be life-threatening, the commissioner added.

The suspect, who remains at large, was described as a black male about 5 feet 6 inches tall with a thick build wearing a green construction vest and gray hoodie.

Sewell said there are no known active explosive devices on the trains. The attack is not being investigated as an act of terrorism, but authorities have not ruled anything out, he added.

The incident began around 8:30 am when the New York Fire Department was called to the 36th Street subway station in the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn for reports of smoke.

What we know about the alleged perpetrator of the Brooklyn Subway shooting and the unexploded devices

The NYPD said a male perpetrator possibly wearing a gas mask and construction vest fled the scene to an unknown location.

The New York Police Commissioner says that just before 8:30 this morning, an individual wearing a gas mask opened a canister from his bag, filled the train with smoke before opening fire on the subway and platform. .

“An individual on that train put on what appeared to be a gas mask, then removed a canister from his bag and opened it,” said New York Police Commissioner Keechant L. Sewell.

“The train at that moment began to fill with smoke,” he said.

“He then opened fire hitting multiple people in the subway and on the platform,” Sewell added.

She said this happened “while the Manhattan-bound N train was waiting to enter the 34th Street station.”

The individual is reported to be a black male with a thick build, wearing a construction vest with a gray hooded sweatshirt, he said.

According to police, a man possibly wearing a gas mask and an orange construction vest fled the scene to an unknown location. This is an image of the subway platform after the shooting. (Credit: Kay Xie)

The Police Department asked the public to avoid the area of ​​36th Street and 4th Avenue in Brooklyn, through a tweet.

Police and emergency services gather outside the subway station in Brooklyn where a shooting was reported on April 12, 2022. (Credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

“Expect emergency vehicles and delays in the vicinity,” the message added.

The Transit Authority, which operates the subway, says they are also investigating the incident.

“D/N/R trains are held at stations in both directions in Brooklyn due to an NYPD investigation on 36th Street,” they tweeted.

Area schools under closure

All schools in the nearby Brooklyn area have a “lockdown” order, meaning no one can leave the premises and only students can enter, an Education Department spokesman explained.

The spokesman did not say how many schools are under the measure or how extensive it will be.

Increase in violence and shootings in New York

The incident comes amid a spike in shootings in New York over the past two years and a particular rise in violence on the Subway that has become the focus of Mayor Eric Adams’ administration. There have been 617 crime reports so far this year on the transit system, a 68% increase from this point last year, NYPD data shows.

The Sunset Park neighborhood is located in the southwestern corner of Brooklyn and is home to a Chinatown and Latin American areas.

Adams, who has covid-19, has been briefed on the situation, said his spokesman, Fabien Levy.

“A lot of panic”: a witness describes the moment of the shooting

A witness who said he was in the subway car where the Brooklyn shooting took place described the chaos at the scene, saying he saw a lot of blood on the floor and the shots sounded like fireworks.

The subway conductor said the train was delayed by traffic minutes before it reached the 36th Street platform in Sunset Park, according to Yav Montano, and that’s when smoke suddenly filled the car.

Then he heard “what I thought were fireworks, but now I find out they were shots and I’m grateful I hid behind one of the chairs… I honestly have no words for what I’ve experienced,” he said.

“I was in the front of the third car and it all happened in the back of the same vehicle…As soon as the smoke started, it started engulfing everything. People started moving towards the front of the car,” he told her. he told CNN.

Multiple people were found shot when authorities responded to a smoke call at the 36th Street and 4th Avenue subway station at approximately 8:30 a.m. local time Tuesday, according to the Department of Justice. Firefighters of New York. The Police Department said there are no active explosive devices “at this time” at the subway station. Previously, “several unexploded devices” were found, according to the FDNY.

Montano said a passenger tried to open the door of the vehicle connecting to a separate vehicle, but was unable to open it.

“There was blood on the floor. There was a lot of blood on the floor. And at the time, I didn’t think it was a shooting because it sounded like fireworks. All I saw was people stomping on each other, stomping on each other, trying to get in through the door that was locked and in a lot of panic. But luckily, the train moved quickly to the next stop and everyone got off the train in a hurry,” he said.

He was wearing a mask on the train, but could no longer wear it because it was “carbon black.”

He estimated that between 40 and 50 people were with him in the subway car. Montano said he tried to hide and make room for an elderly woman near him. She “even handed me her little pepper spray out of her bag in case something happened. She gave it to me out of her bag and told me to use it just in case,” she said.

He recorded a short video, but a man next to him advised him to put his phone away.

Montano said he is now working in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.