Newsman: The shooter fired his handgun at least 33 times, wounded 23 people including 10 people with gunshot. Those hurt included two teen’s ages, a pregnant woman who was shot in the leg, seven men and three women, law-enforcement sources said. The youngest victims in the shooting, four children between 12 and 16 years old, were taken to Maimonides Medical Center, where they were visited by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul in the evening. The injured were taken to at least three city hospitals, including NYU Langone, Maimonides Medical Center, NYP-Brooklyn Methodist and Kings County Hospital.
Police said they had no one in custody, but they had named a person of interest 62-year-old Frank R. James. James has ties to both Wisconsin and Philadelphia, authorities said.
The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives completed an urgent trace to identify the gun’s manufacturer, seller and initial owner.
Officials said, the weapon was recovered at the scene, as was a bag with smoke canisters and fireworks, along with a hatchet, a spray bottle of gasoline and a fuse — lending further credence to the theory of a premeditated attack on New York City transit riders,.
The gunman left a key at the scene that resulted in the recovery of a U-Haul van in Brooklyn, NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig said. Police are now searching for the renter of that van, 62-year-old Frank R. James, whom they named as a person of interest.
New York Chief of Detectives James Essig said at Tuesday evening press conference, As it rolled into the 36th Street and Fourth Avenue station in Sunset Park around 8:30 a.m., the man opened two smoke canisters and took out a .9-mm semi-automatic handgun. While the car filled with smoke, he fired at least 33 times, said NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig, striking 10 people. More than a dozen victims were not struck by gunfire, but were hurt in the crowd response to the chaos, Essig said, with injuries including smoke inhalation, panic attacks and falling. In total, 23 were hurt, police said.
The still-unidentified gunman was in the rear corner of the second train car in the moments leading up to the attack, police said at evening press conference. At least 10 Brooklyn subway riders were shot Tuesday by a man wearing a gas mask and a green construction vest who tossed two smoke canisters in the train car to distract the rush hour crowd before opening fire, officials said.
Three extended magazines of ammunition were also recovered at the scene: one still in the handgun, one in a backpack and one under his subway seat. Greenish smoke spewed from the subway doors when the Manhattan-bound N train stopped at the platform, according to officials. Throngs of panicked people were seen running, bleeding — in total, 23 were hurt, police said. Five of the gunshot victims were critically injured. No fatalities were reported.
Some of the wounded were in the same train car as the suspect, while others were on the platform, authorities said.
Some of the wounded boarded a train across the platform to flee to the next station, with quick-thinking transit workers ushering passengers to safety, said MTA Chair Janno Lieber.
Houari Benkada was one of the gunshot victims, told CNN in an interview that he actually sat next to the shooter before smoke filled the car, sending people running. He said he was trying to shield a pregnant woman when he was hit.
“She said ‘I’m pregnant with a baby,’ I hugged her then the bum rush continued, and that’s when I got shot in the back of my knee,” the 27-year-old said.
The attacker, wearing a gas mask, set off two smoke grenades before shooting. He fled the Brooklyn platform in the panic, leaving a subway car filled with screaming commuters and bleeding victims.
