Spreading Photos, Police Hunt For A Man Suspected Of Being Linked To The New York Subway Shooting

Illustration of the New York subway. (Wikimedia Commons/Mtattrain)

JAKARTA - Police launched an intense manhunt on Tuesday for a gunman who set off two smoke bombs and opened fire on a New York subway train, injuring at least 20 people in a morning rush-hour attack, prompting renewed calls to fight the wave of violence in the urban transport system.

Police said the gunman is believed to have acted alone and fled the scene immediately. The attack took place as a subway train bound for Manhattan on line N was entering an underground station in Brooklyn's Sunset Park neighborhood.

Ten people were hit by live fire, five of whom were hospitalized in critical but stable condition, authorities said, cited from Reuters, April 13.

Police said 13 more people suffered from smoke inhalation or were injured in the chaos as panicked passengers fled the smoke-filled subway train. Some fell onto the pavement as they spilled onto the 36th Street station platform. The fire department said two of those injured were treated at the scene. All of the victims are thought to have survived their injuries, police said.

Meanwhile, New York Police Department (NYPD) Commissioner Keechant Sewell said a U-Haul van believed to be linked to the shooting was later located in Brooklyn, but the perpetrator remained at large hours after the shooting.

At an afternoon press briefing, police identified the "person of interest" in the investigation as Frank James, who investigators believe has rented a U-Haul vehicle.

Police said they found the keys to the van at the crime scene and it had been rented in Philadelphia. James has addresses in Philadelphia and Wisconsin, officials said. Reuters' attempts to contact one of the phone numbers linked to James were unsuccessful.

The subway attacker was described by police from eyewitnesses as a burly man, wearing an orange vest, gray T-shirt, green helmet, and surgical mask.

The commissioner said the attack began in the carriage as it was about to enter the station. The gunman took two canisters out of his bag and opened them, sending smoke all over the train carriages.

Police said the man then fired 33 rounds from a Glock 9mm semi-automatic pistol, which was later found along with three additional ammunition magazines, an axe, several consumer-grade fireworks, and a petrol container.

Sewell previously said the shooting was not immediately treated as an act of terrorism. There is no known motive for the attack, but investigators found a number of social media posts linked to someone named Frank James that mentioned the homeless and the mayor of New York City, Sewell said.

This is Frank James who is a person of interest in this investigation. Any information can be directed to @NYPDTips at 800-577-TIPS. pic.twitter.com/yBpenmsX67

— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) April 12, 2022