NEW YORK — A gunman in a gas mask and a construction vest set off a device that poured smoke into a crowded northbound N train in Brooklyn before shooting fire early Tuesday, shooting 10 people and injuring six others, police sources said.
The gunman remained at large.
The mayhem began just before 8:30 a.m. on the N/R line going through Sunset Park. The gunman was sitting quietly in the train’s second car before he “donned a gas mask,” NYPD Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell said at a Tuesday afternoon news conference.
“He then took a cannister out of his bag and opened it. The train at that time filled with smoke,” Sewell said. “He then opened fire hitting multiple people in the train and in the station.”
Commuters recalled seeing the gunman moments before he started shooting.
“He was sitting there in the back of the car. I didn’t quite pay attention. He was just sitting there and there was luggage with him and he was just holding it next to him,” a 21-year-old college student on the train who wished not to be named told the New York Daily News. “There was a big bang sound and people got scared and there were people laying down and running off and I just followed them.
“I was running, and then laying there, I heard people scream that they got hurt and they need help,” she said.
A 51-year-old man in the same train car described passengers running for their lives.
“My clothes smell like gunpowder, man,” he said. “People piled on me trying to get away from the guy who was in the back of the car.”
Sixteen people were injured, 10 from gunshot wounds, the FDNY said Tuesday. Five of the victims are in critical but stable condition at local hospitals. None of the injuries are believed to be life-threatening.
A motive was not entirely clear. “I’m not ruling out anything,” Sewell said. “We have not identified the subject.”
The gun, a Glock 9 mm pistol, was found at the scene, police sources said. It was not immediately clear where the gunman entered or exited the train system.
“We have not found any live explosive devices, but the suspect in today’s attack detonated smoke bombs to cause havoc,” Mayor Eric Adams, who was quarantined at Gracie Mansion with COVID-19, said in a statement. “We will not allow New Yorkers to be terrorized even by a single individual.”
The smoke cannister the shooter used on the train is akin to a smoke bomb and can be bought on the internet, a high-ranking NYPD source said. At least two of the devices were found at the scene, another police source said.
“There are NO active explosive devices at this time,” the NYPD said on Twitter.
The police commissioner said the incident is not being investigated as an act of terror.
The train was waiting to enter the 36th Street station when the shooting began. When the doors opened, wounded commuters collapsed on the platform, terrifying people waiting for the train.
“Either shots or a bomb went off at 36th Street,” witness Roddy Broke wrote on Twitter. “Scariest moment of my life, man.”
A cellphone video seen by the Daily News shows smoke pouring out of the subway car at the 36th Street station as the train doors open.
Dozens of people run out of the train car, coughing and gagging from the smoke. A few moments later, at least two people limp out of the smoke-filled train car. One falls to the ground, bleeding.
Other witnesses reported seeing wounded people, all adults, coming out of the 36th Street station.
“I was heading into 36th Street Station in Brooklyn when a young guy who was bleeding from the legs said people were injured and bleeding,” witness Conrad Aderer said.
Many victims and witnesses jumped onto an R train waiting at the station, which took them to 25th Street.
The gunman is described as a dark-skinned man with a heavy build. He was wearing a green construction vest and a gray hoodie at the time of the shooting, said Sewell, who asked anyone with photos or videos of the suspect to contact the NYPD.
Officers from all over the city, as well as NYPD Aviation units, were assisting in the investigation. Fourth Avenue between 25th and 36th Streets was closed.
The MTA also shut down D/N/R service through most of Brooklyn and parts of Manhattan, a spokesman said. Major delays on all B/D/F/N/Q/R and W trains were expected throughout Brooklyn as a result.
“Anyone with information, videos or photographs no matter how insignificant they may be is encouraged to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS,” Sewell said.
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