NYPD seeks 'person of interest' in subway attack that wounded 23

The NYPD is searching for a 62-year-old man who rented the U-Haul truck believed to be connected to the Tuesday morning mass shooting in a crowded Brooklyn subway station that left 23 injured in a storm of bullets and smoke and reminded New Yorkers of their vulnerability on mass transit.

Hundreds of NYPD detectives were poring through videos and canvassing the streets to find the man responsible, and police said they had identified a person of interest in the case. Frank P. James, who has addresses in Philadelphia and Milwaukee, is wanted for questioning in connection with the case.

NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell said the NYPD is investigating social media posts made by James and tightening security around Mayor Eric Adams "to be on the safe side," without specifying details of the post.

Tuesday evening, the NYPD had sent emergency service personnel to Gravesend, Brooklyn, where the U-Haul thought to be connected to the attack, rented in Philadelphia and with Arizona plates, was found and taken away for examination.

Adams, who has repeatedly called on Congress to pass stricter gun control laws, said the shooting turned a routine Tuesday morning subway ride into a “war zone” in New York City.

“Today was a difficult day for New York,” said the mayor, speaking via monitor during a Tuesday evening press conference because he recently tested positive for COVID-19. “Days like these a play out too often cities across America … we witnessed an act of violence and evil in the heart of Brooklyn."

All of the victims wounded in the attack were expected to survive.

President Joe Biden has been briefed on the shooting, and his senior staff members have been in touch with Adams and Sewell to offer assistance as needed, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a Tweet Tuesday morning.

The shooter boarded the Manhattan-bound N train at the Kings Highway stop and rode it eight stops until it approached the 36th Street station, said NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig. Then he donned a gas mask and opened two canisters of smoke before firing 33 bullets, hitting 10 people. Thirteen others also suffered injuries.

The gunshot victims were seven men and three women, Essig said.

The gun was not stolen and the NYPD was working with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to determine where and when it was sold.

A high-ranking law enforcement official said James was not a transit worker and had no criminal record.

According to the official, the subway shooter mumbled something before he ignited the smoke bombs and started shooting. The U-Haul truck key was found at the scene, along with a 9 mm handgun, extended magazines, a hatchet, gasoline, consumer-grade fireworks, a lighter and a “hobby” fuse.

"He left behind a lot of stuff," the official said. "It is not clear why he did that."

The "active shooting incident" wasn't immediately being considered terrorism but nothing was off the table, Sewell said at an earlier press briefing. No motive had been determined, she said.

The suspect has been described as having a heavy build and wearing a gray sweatshirt, green and orange vest and a green helmet, she said.

Videos and photos from the scene depict panicked people running out of a smoke-filled subway car and bystanders administering aid to the injured on the platform and in the train car.

Rider Juliana Fonda, a broadcast engineer at WNYC-FM, told its news site Gothamist that passengers from the car behind hers started banging on the connecting door, the AP reported.

“There was a lot of loud pops, and there was smoke in the other car,” she said. “And people were trying to get in and they couldn’t, they were pounding on the door to get into our car.”

The victims range in ages from teens to middle age, said FDNY spokesman Jim Long. They were being treated at Maimonides Medical Center, New York-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital and NYU-Langone Hospital Brooklyn.

A hospital spokesman speaking outside NYU-Langone said doctors treated 21 people there for a mix for smoke inhalation, gunshot wounds and shrapnel lacerations. Officials of the hospitals said some gunshot victims were expected to be admitted overnight. All are expected to survive, officials said.

The victims treated by the hospitals included people who were transported by ambulance, as well as some who came to the hospital on their own without emergency assistance.

Nassau County police said there are no known threats in the county, but they will increase patrols around critical infrastructure with an emphasis on mass transit, according to a news release issued by the police department.

Schools were locked down across the area — including miles away in Crown Heights, at the St. Francis de Sales School for the Deaf, said the Brooklyn borough president, Antonio Reynoso, who was visiting the school.

Ciara Ward, 28, was waiting to pick up her son James, 7, a first-grader, outside P.S. 172 Beacon School of Excellence on Fourth Avenue Tuesday afternoon. She was on the R train after dropping him off in the morning and saw police running through the station. While leaving the station, she said she saw somebody with a "hole in his right knee."

 "I am just trying to focus on making sure my son feels safe … it's important he knows there are people making sure he is safe," she said. "This is enough reason for anyone to avoid” taking the subway.

SEE PHOTOSBrooklyn subway shooting: Photos from the scene

The shooting happened a few blocks from the Brooklyn Nets practice facility on 39th Street and 2nd Avenue. The team was practicing Tuesday morning before its NBA playoff game Tuesday against the Cleveland Cavaliers at the Barclays Center.

Players and team personnel were either in the facility or on the way to the team’s 10 a.m. practice at the time of the shooting.

“Devastating to hear about it, to hear the sirens outside the practice facility,” Nets star Kevin Durant said. “You hope and pray for the best for everyone involved.”

Joana Morales, 45, of Sunset Park, was dropping her daughter off at nearby P.S. 24 when she noticed a crowd of panicked people running away from the subway station. She was off work Tuesday but said she normally uses that station. 

"I've lived here 14 years and never seen something like that," she said.