New York police say they have identified a person of interest in the Brooklyn subway shooting that saw 10 people suffer gunshot wounds and injured at least 18 others.
NYPD announced on Twitter that they were searching for a Frank R James in conenction with the attack, in which a masked gunman set off a smoke device before opening fire on a crowded Manhattan-bound N train as it waited to enter 36th St station on Tuesday morning.
“This is Frank James. He is a person of interest in the shooting that took place on the N train in Brooklyn Tuesday morning,” they stated in the tweet, which included two pictures of the suspect.
Authorities say they do not know if 62-year-old Mr James was the shooter in the shocking incident.
“We are looking for Frank James,” said NYPD Chief James Essig at a Tuesday evening briefing. “We know he rented that U-Haul van.”
Mr James, who has addresses in Wisconsin and Philadelphia, was not named as a suspect. NYPD says that investigators want to know if Mr James witnessed the attack.
A $50,000 reward has been offered for information that leads to an arrest in the case.
The gunman in the attack opened fire at least 33 times with a Glock 9-millimeter handgun, added Chief Essig.
“Witnesses state the male opened up two smoke grenades, tossed them on the subway floor, brandishes a Glock 9-millimeter handgun,” he said.
At least 10 people sustained gunshots and 29 people were injured in total but none appeared to have life-threatening injuries, officials said at a press conference. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said that President Joe Biden was briefed on the latest developments and the White House was in touch with Mayor Eric Adams and the police commissioner.
NYPD said they were not investigating the shooting as a terrorist attack but it was still being considered an active shooter incident. No motive for the attack has yet been made public.
Earlier police found a U-Haul truck with Arizona plates that was linked to the suspect.
On Tuesday afternoon, police recovered a gun, a high capacity magazine, and a backpack containing the fireworks and smoke devices, NBC News New York reported.
Law enforcement sources said the gun may have jammed during the attack, preventing further injury and possible death.
A key to the U-Haul van was found at the scene of the crime as was the credit card used to rent it in Philadelphia, law enforcement sources told The New York Post.
Authorities have launched a huge manhunt for the shooter, but say that security cameras at the Sunset Park subway station were not working at the time of the attack. But officials believe they have images of the suspect taken from nearby businesses.
Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell said Mayor Eric Adams was getting an increased security detail as a precaution.
Officials say that the shooting took place on a Manhattan-bound N train just before 8.30am, and that the suspect was mubling to himself beforeputting on a gas mask and removing a cannister from a bag and the train began filling with smoke.
He then began shooting with a handgun, hitting people on the train and platform at the 36th Street station in Sunset Park.
