Brooklyn shooting: over 20 injured, including 10 shot, in subway attack

A gunman wearing a gas mask filled a crowded New York subway car with thick black smoke from a canister and opened fire on morning rush-hour passengers, injuring more than 20, including 10 with gunshot wounds.

A manhunt was under way on Tuesday after the shooter, described as a heavy-built Black male about 5ft 5in tall, wearing a green construction-type vest and hooded grey sweatshirt, fled the scene of the shooting. Officers were searching for a U-Haul truck with an Arizona license plate as of Tuesday afternoon, police told multiple media outlets.

Injured passengers suffered from bullet wounds, smoke inhalation and the physical effects of panic. Nobody was reported to be in life-threatening condition.

The US president spoke at an event in Iowa, as the New York mayor, Eric Adams, indicated the authorities were getting ready to share the identity of the gunman, who was still at large.

On Tuesday morning, graphic photographs and clips posted on social media showed the traumatic scenes on the platform of 36th Street station in the Sunset Park neighbourhood of Brooklyn around 8.30am. Wounded passengers were seen lying as others administered tourniquets to staunch bleeding from their legs.

Another phone image showed blood smeared inside the train carriage and out on to the platform, indicating where a rider had been dragged to safety. Footage captured passengers screaming as they scrambled to escape the shooter.

In a press conference, the New York city police commissioner, Keechant Sewell, described events that began shortly before 8.24am as an N train bound for Manhattan was travelling between the 59th and 36th Street stations.

Agents of the joint terrorism taskforce were at the scene, along with FBI and NYPD officers. Biden and the US attorney general, Merrick Garland, were briefed.

The attack brought fear and chaos back to New York City. Witnesses said they heard so many shots they lost count. Others said the shooting sounded like fireworks or popping, causing confusion among passengers.

Yav Montano, who was present inside the carriage as the attack unfolded, shared with CNN a 10-second video he captured as the train drew into the 36th Street station. People could be heard groaning and coughing and were seen covering their faces against thick smoke.

Montano said a smoke grenade was let off about two minutes before the train reached the station. Noise erupted and he crouched to the floor in an attempt to shield himself.

Montano estimated there were 40 to 50 passengers in the carriage.

The passenger said the train slowed to a halt shortly before it reached the 36th Street station.

Other graphic footage was recorded as the N train pulled in. As its doors opened smoke poured out followed by passengers, some screaming, others stumbling and falling to the platform. Phone images showed blood on the floor of the car.

New York has been grappling with high-profile violent incidents on the subway, prompting the relatively new mayor, Adams, to beef up police patrols.

Within minutes of the shooting, NYPD officers and counter-terrorism units were at the scene equipped with police dogs and heavy equipment. Police presence was stepped up in public places across the city.

As the manhunt got under way, officers fanned out across the Sunset Park neighbourhood, a largely working-class area with large Hispanic and Chinese-origin populations. Schools were put on lockdown.

New York fire officers said they were looking at up to four undetonated devices, but later confirmed there were no active explosive devices.

Fire officials said they had taken a total of 17 victims from the scene of the subway attack to multiple local hospitals, including those with gunshot wounds. Five were reported to be in critical but stable condition. Others arrived at those facilities on their own.