New York police on Tuesday chased after a man wearing a gas mask who wreaked havoc on the subway during the morning rush hour by setting off two smoke devices before opening the fire, injuring 23, ten of whom were shot.
“We were really lucky it didn’t get much worse“said New York Police Chief Keechant Sewell, summing up the relief of the authorities after this attack where the suspect – still at large 12 hours after the shooting – fired 33 bullets in the subway.
At 8:24 a.m. (1:24 p.m. HB), when the metro trains in the megalopolis are crowded, the individual, who was wearing a gas mask, “opened two canisters which released smoke into the train. He then shot a number of passengers as the train entered the 36th Street station.“south of Brooklyn,” Keechant Sewell said.
Amateur photos and videos showed pools of blood and people lying on the floor of a train, as well as on the station platform.
Among the victims, none of whom were in mortal danger according to Keechant Sewell, ten were shot and thirteen others in the scramble to get out of the metro or because of smoke inhalation.
The suspect was described by police as “a black man” measuring about 1.65 m, “of large build“, and wearing a “green and orange work vest” and a gray hooded sweatshirt.
At the scene, the investigators found a handgun and three magazines, as well as a vehicle key which allowed them to go back to a van from the American rental company U-Haul, recently rented and abandoned in Brooklyn.
Police have given the description of the individual who rented this vehicle in Philadelphia, a 62-year-old man”with addresses in Philadelphia and Wisconsin“, without saying if it was the suspect.
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