NYC subway shooting – Update
For our correspondents reading about the NYC subway shooting, here’s what else you need to know:
Earlier today, a man wearing a gas mask opened a canister, deployed the smoke and started shooting in a Brooklyn subway, striking multiple people, New York City Police Department Commissioner Keechant Sewell confirmed on local news.
A Manhattan-bound N train was waiting to enter the 36th Street subway at 8:24 a.m. ET, when a man wearing a gas mask took a canister out of his bag and opened it, Sewell said.
“The train at that time began to fill with smoke. He then opened fire, striking multiple people on the subway and in the platform,” she said, adding that there were no life-threatening injuries.
10 people were shot
Sixteen people were treated for injuries, including 10 for gunshot wounds, following the shooting in a Brooklyn subway station, said Laura Kavanagh, the acting FDNY commissioner, at a briefing. “Ten of those patients are suffering from gunshot wounds at this time and five are in stable, but critical condition,” Kavanagh said.
The suspect is still at large
City and state officials said they are continuing to search for the suspect in today’s shooting. Commissioner Sewell described the suspect as a Black male with a heavy build, wearing a green construction-type vest with a hooded gray sweatshirt.
A gun and multiple high capacity magazines were recovered at the Brooklyn subway station
Two law enforcement sources tell CNN a gun was recovered in the subway station where the shooting occurred. Investigators have also recovered multiple high capacity magazines from the scene, three law enforcement officials say. Two officials said they believe the gun jammed during the shooting. The suspect was in the train car and the shooting began “as the train was pulling into the station” at 36th Street in Sunset Park in Brooklyn, the NYPD commissioner said.
Officials don’t have a motive yet
NYPD officials say at this time there is no known motive for the Brooklyn subway shooting, and they are “not ruling out anything” in terms of the investigation. When asked whether she was ruling out terrorism, Sewell said she was “not ruling out anything.” She added, “We are determining what the motive is, and we will find that out as the investigation continues.”
Witness inside the subway car says smoke filled the car
An eyewitness 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 that gunshots sounded like fireworks. The subway conductor said the train was delayed due to train traffic minutes before the train got to the 36th Street platform in Sunset Park, according to Yav Montano, and that’s when smoke suddenly engulfed the car. He then heard “what I thought was fireworks but now hearing that it was gunshots and I’m thankful I hid behind one of the chairs. … I honestly have no words for what I’ve experienced.”
The President and other federal officials have been briefed on the shooting
President Biden has been briefed on the latest developments regarding the shooting, White House press secretary Jen Psaki tweeted. White House senior staff are in touch with the mayor and NYPD commissioner, Psaki added. Attorney General Merrick Garland received a preliminary briefing, according to a Justice Department spokesperson. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas was also been briefed, according to a tweet from his spokesperson.
