Part of a shooting on a New York City subway that left 16 people hurt was caught on camera on Tuesday. A manhunt is underway for the suspect, who also left explosives at the scene.
Yeshiva World News reporter Moshe Schwartz shared a video reportedly taken on the subway during the incident. Passengers in a subway car could be seen moving away as smoke filled the air in the next car over and several gunshots could be heard.
Authorities now believe at least 10 people suffered gunshot wounds and another six were injured in the panic. No one has died of their injuries at this time.
Police officials described the shooting suspect as a black man, standing about five feet and five inches tall with a heavy build. Authorities are actively searching for the suspect.
Photos shared from the subway station in Brooklyn showed several people lying on the floor with visible bleeding following the attack.
Schwartz shared a photo of bloodstains left in the subway car after the attack.
Another video shared on social media showed passengers fleeing the subway as it came to a stop at the Sunset Park station in Brooklyn. A man could be seen limping out of the train at around the 34-second mark in the video and then collapsing to the ground alongside other apparent victims.
Earlier on Tuesday morning, the Fire Department of New York (FDNY) said it responded to reports of smoke at the 36th Street and Fourth Avenue station at around 8:30 a.m. ET on Tuesday. Authorities now assess the smoke came from a smoke canister that was activated moments before the shooting began.
In a Tuesday afternoon press conference, New York Police Department (NYPD) Commissioner Keechant Sewell said the shooting suspect “donned what appeared to be a gas mask, he then took a canister out of his bag and opened it. The train, at that time, began to fill with smoke. He then opened fire, striking multiple people on the subway and in the platform.”
Sewell gave the shooting suspect’s description as a black male, standing about five feet and five inches tall with a heavy build. She said the suspect was seen wearing a “green construction-type vest and a hooded sweatshirt, the color is grey.”
Responding authorities also reported finding undetonated explosives at the scene immediately after the attack. During the press conference, Sewell said, “there are currently no known explosive devices on our subway trains.”
Sewell also said the shooting incident is “not being investigated as an act of terrorism at this time.” Sewell later said investigators do not know the suspect’s motives and are not ruling anything out.
“We will not allow New Yorkers to be terrorized, even by a single individual,” New York City Mayor Eric Adams said in a video message following the attack. Adams, who is a former NYPD officer, said, “NYPD is searching for the suspect at large, and we will find him.”
None of the 16 people injured in the incident have died from their injuries at this time. An FDNY spokesperson said five of the victims are in critical but stable condition. The FDNY spokesperson said the non-gunshot injuries included smoke inhalation and shrapnel wounds, as well as injuries related to the crowd’s panic during the attack.
The FDNY spokesperson did not identify the precise cause of any shrapnel wounds but said several different things may have caused such wounds, including a bullet grazing something. Asked if authorities believed any shrapnel injuries may have been caused by an explosive device, the FDNY spokesperson said “not at this time.”