Authorities said a gunman filled a rush-hour subway train with smoke and shot numerous people, leaving injured travelers bleeding at a Brooklyn station while others fled screaming. The culprit was still being sought by police.
At least five individuals were hurt in the incident at the 36th Street station in the borough’s Sunset Park area, according to officials, and at least 11 people were injured in all.
A video taken by a metro rider shows smoke and people spilling out of a train vehicle. Passengers scream and race for an exit, while a few others limp off the train. “Someone calls 911!” someone yells as one falls to the platform. People tend to bleed passengers lying on the platform, some among what appear to be little puddles of blood, in additional footage and photographs from the event, while another victim is on the subway car’s floor.
“My metro door slammed shut, causing chaos.” “It was smoke and blood and people screaming,” eyewitness Sam Carcamo told radio station 1010 WINS, adding that when the door to the N train opened, a massive billow of smoke poured out.
Preliminary intelligence indicated that the suspect who left was a man wearing a construction vest and a gas mask, according to various law enforcement sources informed on the inquiry.
According to one of the law enforcement authorities, investigators believe the perpetrator used a smoke device before opening fire. According to the official, investigators are looking into whether the suspect utilized the device to distract bystanders before shooting.
Officials from the fire department and the police department were investigating allegations of an explosion, but the police department tweeted that there were “no active explosive devices at this moment.” According to mayoral spokeswoman Fabien Levy, who confirmed the initial shooting injury figure, multiple smoke devices were discovered on the site.
Two local hospitals were treating at least 11 patients. According to a statement from the Transport Workers Union Local 100, no MTA employees were physically injured.
Juliana Fonda, a broadcast engineer at WNYC-FM, said she was riding the train when passengers in the vehicle behind her began hammering on the door between them.
“There were a bunch of loud bursts, and the other car was smoking,” she claimed. “And people were knocking on the door wanting to get into our car because they couldn’t get in.”
President Joe Biden and Attorney General Merrick Garland, as well as Governor Kathy Hochul, were briefed on the incident. Mayor Eric Adams of New York City was briefed at his apartment after receiving a positive COVID-19 test on Sunday.
The event occurred on a subway line that runs through south Brooklyn, in a primarily Hispanic and Asian-populated neighborhood approximately a 15-minute train ride from Manhattan. Local schools were closed, including Sunset Park High School across the street.
Danny Mastrogiorgio of Brooklyn had just dropped off his son at school when he noticed a swarm of passengers, some of whom were injured, panicking their way up the subway stairwell at the neighboring 25th Street station. At least two of the victims had apparent leg injuries.
He told reporters, “It was insane.” “No one was quite sure what was going on.”
Allan Lee was working at his cafe, Cafe Nube when a half-dozen police and fire vehicles converged on the block where the 36th Street station is located.
He told reporters that “soon they started moving those who were on the block to the opposite block and then they closed up the subway entrance near the cafe’s door.” He knew it wasn’t a regular subway problem when he saw bomb squad personnel and dogs.
From at least a dozen blocks away, where a police cordon had been built up, a sea of emergency lights could be seen.
In recent months, New York City has seen a rash of shootings and high-profile incidents, including on the city’s subways. One of the most horrifying incidents occurred in January when a woman was thrown in front of a train by an unknown person.
Adams, a Democrat who has been in office for a little more than 100 days, has made combating crime, particularly on the subways, a priority of his early administration, promising to send additional police officers into stations and platforms for frequent patrols. It was unclear whether officers were already inside the station when the gunshots took place.
