Police are seeking a “person of interest” after a shooting on a rush-hour subway train in New York left more than 20 people injured.
Officers said they were looking for Frank R James, 62, as he had rented a van that may be connected to the attack.
The violence erupted shortly before 8.30am local time on Tuesday when a gunman in a gas mask and construction vest set off a smoke grenade and fired a barrage of bullets in a subway train that pulled into 36th Street station in Brooklyn.
At least 10 people were shot as the attacker fired off dozens of rounds inside the smoke-filled carriage. Five people were in critical condition but expected to survive. Another 13 people “suffered injuries related to smoke inhalation, falling down or a panic attack”, according to Chief of Detectives James Essig.
The attack made the subway a scene of horror as frightened commuters ran from the train and others limped out of it.
“My subway door opened into calamity. It was smoke and blood and people screaming,” eyewitness Sam Carcamo told radio station 1010 WINS.
Mr Essig said the male shooter “fled the scene, and detectives are actively trying to determine his whereabouts”.
He revealed authorities searching the subway found a nine mm semi-automatic handgun, along with extended magazines, a hatchet, detonated and undetonated smoke grenades, a black garbage can, a rolling cart, gasoline and the key to a U-Haul van.
Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell said they had uncovered “concerning” social media posts made by someone with the same name as the van renter, mentioning homelessness, New York and mayor Eric Adams.
She said the posts have led authorities to tighten the security detail for New York’s mayor.
The New York Times reported that Mr James appeared to have posted dozens of videos on social media in recent years in which he expressed bigoted views.
Mr Essig said the key led investigators to the van renter, finding that he has addresses in Philadelphia and Wisconsin.
The officials said authorities zeroed in on a person of interest after the credit card used to rent the van was found at the shooting scene.
The van was found, unoccupied, elsewhere in Brooklyn.
Investigators believe the weapon jammed, preventing the suspect from continuing to fire, the officials said. The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has completed an urgent trace to identify the gun’s manufacturer, seller and initial owner.
Official are offering a $50,000 (£38,400) reward for information leading to the gunman’s arrest.
The attack has unnerved a city on guard about a rise in gun violence and the ever-present threat of terrorism. Ms Sewell said the attack was not being investigated as terrorism, but that she was “not ruling out anything”.
