Mass shooting on a crowded subway train in the New York City borough of Brooklyn on Tuesday, during the morning rush, left nearly two dozen people injured, including five critical.
At least 23 people were injured in a shooting incident at a subway station in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, after a man set off smoke grenades in a crowded subway car and then opened fire.
Several undetonated devices were recovered from the 36th Street subway station in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park neighbourhood, authorities said on Tuesday.
The incident took place in a morning commute when a man set off smoke grenades in a crowded subway car and then opened fire. CNN and other media reported that at least five people were shot, citing sources in the New York Fire Department.
Video footages showed a large number of law enforcement personnel, including heavily armed officers and dozens of police cruisers and emergency vehicles, present around the subway station.
People asked to stay away from the area
The New York Police Department tweeted that there were “no active explosive devices at this time”. However, they warned people to stay away from the area, renowned for its thriving Chinatown, views of the Statue of Liberty and Industry City, a sprawling warehouse district that has become home to many creative businesses. “Please stay clear of the area,” the NYPD tweeted, urging witnesses to contact a police tip line with any information.
A New York City police spokesperson told media that law enforcement officers were responding to the scene. However, he could not share details on the number of individuals shot.
Police named a “person of interest” connected to the shooting
The police in New York on Tuesday evening identified a man they called a “person of interest” in the mass shooting. The man, Frank R. James, 62, had rented a U-Haul van in Philadelphia, the police said. A key to the van, they said, was found in a collection of belongings on the train that they believed belonged to the gunman, including a Glock 9-millimeter handgun, three ammunition magazines, a hatchet, fireworks and a liquid believed to be gasoline.
The police found the van abandoned on a street late Tuesday afternoon, about five blocks from the Kings Highway station, where they say the gunman had gotten on the subway, and five miles from the 36th Street station, where the shooting unfolded.
Subway service resumed
Subway service resumed at the 36th Street station in Brooklyn after the New York Police Department concluded their investigation there into Tuesday’s mass shooting, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said early Wednesday.
Mass casualty in the U.S
Mass casualty shootings happen quite frequently in the United States, with official crime figures reporting approximately 40,000 deaths a year from incidents involving firearms. This number includes suicides as well, according to the Gun Violence Archive website.
Biden announces new gun control measures
The incident came just a day after the U.S. President Joe Biden announced new gun control measures, increasing restrictions on so-called “ghost guns”, the difficult-to-trace weapons that can be assembled at home.