NYC subway shooter's Philly-rented U-Haul is found
NYC subway shooter's Philly-rented U-Haul is found abandoned on Brooklyn highway five miles from where he shot ten straphangers: Gunman was on FBI's terrorist radar until 2019
- GRAPHIC WARNING
- Gunman opened fire on a northbound N train at 8.24am on Tuesday as it pulled into 36th St Station
- He had been calmly sitting on the train but then put on a gas mask and detonated a smoke bomb
- Passengers were trapped in the subway car - they tried to get to the next car but the door was locked
- When the train arrived at 36th St, injured victims spilled out onto the platform trailing blood
- The gunman, described as heavy-set, black, 5ft 5 and wearing a vest, fled and he remains at large
- A U-Haul van was rented in Philadelphia and has been tracked down five miles from the scene
- Investigators believe they know who the gunman is, having identified the suspect after finding a credit card at the scene that was also used to rent the U-Haul cargo van
- Law enforcement told Newsweek the suspect was the previously known to the FBI, having been entered into the Guardian Lead terrorism monitoring system in New Mexico, and discharged in 2019
- His .380 automatic handgun jammed which stopped him from shooting more at the station
- A bag of Falcon Rising fireworks, Seismic Wave smoke canisters and three extended magazines were found
- The NYPD is doubling the number of police officers on the subway tonight
The suspect in the Brooklyn subway shooting was on the FBI's terrorist radar in New Mexico until 2019, according to a report - and was cleared after 'multiple interviews'.
The shooter has not yet been publicly identified and he remains on the loose hours after opening fire on a busy northbound N train as it approached 36th Street in Sunset Park.
Investigators believe they know who he is, having identified the suspect after finding a credit card at the scene that was also used to rent the U-Haul cargo van, two law enforcement sources told CNN.
A federal law enforcement source told Newsweekthe suspect was the previously known to the FBI, having been entered into the Guardian Lead system in New Mexico.
The system is the FBI's way of coordinating information from other law enforcement partners about potential terrorism-related threats and suspicious activity reports.
He was cleared after multiple interviews in 2019.
The federal law enforcement source said that he is believed to have driven to New York from New Mexico.
The FBI has now joined the hunt for him and armed police units are patrolling Brooklyn for any clue of his whereabouts.
NYPD has located the U-Haul believed to have been used in Tuesday morning's subway shooting abandoned in the street in Brooklyn, five miles from the scene of the crime.
DailyMail.com obtained an alert that was issued to officers telling them that the suspect is connected to a U-Haul with an Arizona license plate AL31408.
Police sources tell DailyMail.com the van was rented in Philadelphia. U-Haul is now helping with the search.
The U-Haul was located late on Tuesday afternoon near Kings Avenue in Brooklyn, but there is still no sign of the suspect.
Police evacuated people from the immediate area after the van's discovery.
'Police came for the van and told us to clear the store,' said the manager of nearby King's Piano World on Kings Highway.
He told DailyMail.com: 'Police blocked off the area. People were told not to walk in the area. They told us it was dangerous.'
The rental agreement obtained by CNN shows that the U-Haul reservation was made on April 6, and was scheduled to be picked up on April 11 at 2:01 p.m. ET.
The van was supposed to be rented for two days, according to the reservation.
Sebastien Reyes, U-Haul Vice President of Communications, said: 'Law enforcement has alerted us to its search for a rental van and its possible connection to a suspect in today's incident in New York City.
'We are working closely with authorities to ensure they have any and all available information to meet their needs.'
There is a heightened police presence all over the city, particularly on the subway, and some schools in Brooklyn have been told to shelter in place.
Witnesses have described how the gunman calmly put on a gas mask on the slow-moving train this morning at 8.24am then tossed a smoke grenade down the carriage, causing havoc among commuters, before opening fire.
The terrified commuters rushed to the other end of the train to try to get through to the next car but the door was locked. They were trapped on the train until it reached the next station.
Video shows the moment the doors opened and wounded passengers spilled onto the platform, trailing blood.
DailyMail.com can confirm that a .380 handgun was found inside the station, along with three extended magazines; one was empty, one was full and a third was jammed in the gun.
Another bag was discovered that contained a batch of Falcon Rising fireworks and Seismic Wave firecrackers. It's unclear what he intended to do with them.
The gunman then disappeared from 36th St, where no security cameras were in operation.
Eric Adams, the mayor of New York, told WCBS Radio 880 AM that a preliminary review indicates there appeared to be some sort of malfunction with the camera system at the subway station in Tuesday's shooting.
Adams said investigators are trying to determine whether one camera malfunctioned or whether cameras throughout the entire station malfunctioned.
Janno Lieber, the chair and CEO of the Metro Transportation Authority (MTA), told CNN there are almost 10,000 cameras in the system including almost 600 cameras on the Brooklyn section of where the attack happened.
He did not comment on why they were not working.
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