Police find ax at crime scene – new details on suspect

23 people, some seriously injured – that is the balance sheet after the shots in the New York subway. At the crime scene, investigators found evidence that the perpetrator was planning something even more devastating.

After the shooting in the New York subway, the police are still looking for a suspect. Police Chief Keechant Sewell says a “black” man is wanted as a “person of interest”. He put on a gas mask and opened two canisters that emitted smoke as the subway pulled into the station, Sewell said on Tuesday. Then he shot passengers.

Ten people suffered gunshot wounds in the incident in the Brooklyn borough on Tuesday morning. 13 others suffered from smoke inhalation or were injured while trying to escape. According to the authorities, no one is in danger of death.

Sewell said it was very fortunate that nothing worse had happened. According to police, the man fired a total of 33 shots with a Glock 17mm pistol. Investigators also found other pistol magazines and an ax at the scene.

Suspect published several videos

Police are now looking for a 62-year-old black man wearing a gray hoodie and safety vest. According to Sewell, the suspect had published several videos on YouTube before the crime, in which he uttered long and sometimes aggressive political tirades and criticized New York’s new mayor Eric Adams. According to investigators, there is no evidence of a terrorist background.

A reward of $50,000 (around €46,000) has been offered for information leading to the perpetrator. “We are doing everything we can to apprehend the man responsible for this heinous attack on our passengers,” said New York City Transit Authority (MTA) chief Janno Lieber.

The attack occurred just before 8:30 a.m. during the morning rush hour at the entrance to the 36th Street subway station. Eyewitness Yav Montano told CNN that the subway suddenly filled with smoke. “There was a lot of blood on the floor,” Montano said. At first he thought that someone had set off fireworks.

Biden thanked rescue workers

Videos and photos released online showed a smoke-filled subway train pulling into a station, passengers tending to injured people bleeding on the smoke-filled platform, and subway workers tending to panicked passengers.

US President Joe Biden thanked the New York rescue workers and helpful passengers who “did not hesitate to help other passengers”. “We will not give up until we find the culprit,” assured the President during a visit to the state of Iowa.

45,000 gun deaths

New York has seen an increase in gun violence for some time. Observers attribute this, among other things, to the effects of the corona pandemic. Mayor Adams took office in January with a promise, among other things, to fight crime in the largest city in the United States.

The governor of the state of New York, Kathy Hochul, promised a committed fight against gun violence at the scene. “This has to end,” demanded the politician. President Biden only presented stricter rules for so-called ghost weapons that do not have serial numbers on Monday.

Gun violence is commonplace in the United States, and attacks with many fatalities shake the country again and again. According to the Gun Violence Archive website, nearly 21,000 people were killed by guns last year alone. If suicides are included, there were around 45,000 deaths from guns.