What We Know About the NYC Subway Attack

Details are clarifying about the rush-hour attack on a New York City subway train Tuesday morning. One big detail: While at least 16 people were injured, none of their injuries are believed to be life-threatening.

• What happened: Investigators suspect a lone assailant first set off a smoke canister in a train about 8:25am as it pulled into Brooklyn's 36th Street Station, report the AP and the New York Times. Authorities say the suspect then opened fire as smoke filled the train car.
• Casualties: At least 10 people were shot and six others sustained injuries of other kinds, including smoke inhalation. Some of the injured were in the same train as the assailant, others were on the subway platform. Five people were in critical condition as of early Tuesday afternoon, reports NBC New York.

• Gunman: The assailant remains at large. He is described as a Black man, about 5-foot-5 with a heavy build, per the New York Post. He was wearing a “green construction-type vest and a hooded sweatshirt," and he put on what appeared to be a gas mask before opening fire, says NYPD Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell.
• Motive? Unclear, but “this is not being investigated as an act of terrorism at this time,” says Sewell. She did not elaborate on the rationale for that, per the Washington Post. President Biden was briefed on the shooting.
• Scene: “My subway door opened into calamity," witness Sam Carcamo tells radio station 1010 WINS. "It was smoke and blood and people screaming." Graphic videos and photos proliferated on social media, showing victims near puddles of blood.
• Another witness: “It was terrifying," says Juliana Fonda, who was in the subway car directly in front of the one with the assailant. "You couldn’t really tell what was happening. You just heard pops … and there was smoke in the other car.” People began pounding on her locked carriage “trying to get away from something that was happening.”

(More New York City subway stories.)