An armed and masked man launched a smoke bomb on Tuesday, April 12, then opened fire on a New York subway. Midi Libre takes stock of what we know.
Total chaos during rush hour. At 8:27 a.m. in New York this Tuesday, or 2:27 p.m. Paris time, several shots were heard in the corridors of the subway During rush hour. Thousands of workers rush there every morning to reach their places of professional activity.
Number of injured, suspect…
According to firefighters ten people were shot. Thirteen others were injured by shrapnel and during the chaos that followed the smoke spread on the train, but no one was in mortal danger during the afternoon, details West France†
A manhunt is underway for the suspect, who fled.
He was described by police as “a black man” about six feet tall, “heavy” and wearing a “green and orange construction vest” and a gray hooded sweatshirt.
Police gave the description and distributed photos of the person who rented the van, without saying whether it was the suspect.
According to various media outlets, this man, Frank James, 62, has published several videos on YouTube where he talks about politics and criticizes New York Mayor Eric Adams. The Midi broadcast.
At the scene, investigators found a handgun and three magazines, as well as a car key that would allow them to get back to a van owned by the U-Haul U.S. rental company, which had recently been rented and abandoned in Brooklyn.
Where exactly were the shots fired?
The shots were heard in the Brooklyn borough on 36th Street and 4th Avenue in the south of the borough. Amateur photos and videos showed several people lying in pools of blood on the floor of the subway.
New York City subway passengers clamor to escape a subway train — some of them visibly injured — after CBS New York sources say a gunman opened fire and threw a smoke bomb on a train. Several people were shot and more than a dozen were injured, authorities said. pic.twitter.com/IO9Tdr9Fe8
—CBS News (@CBSNews) Apr 12, 2022
According to one of the passengers, Yav Montano, who spoke about… CNN“a smoke grenade… a bomb went off, I’d say two minutes before we got to the station”. “It looked like it was planned (…). We were stuck in the train (…) There was a lot of blood on the floor,” this man added.
No “terrorist investigation” at this stage
A major security device was deployed at 36th Street and 4th Avenue levels, in south Brooklyn, where the incidents took place, and schools near the station were “locked down” this Tuesday. CNN citing a member of the Ministry of Education, without stating the number of institutions or students involved.
The attack took place as New York City faced a spike in crime since the Covid-19 pandemic. From January 1 to early April 2022, the number of shootings and shootings in New York City increased from the same period in 2021, from 260 to 296, according to figures released by the NYPD last week.
