SUNSET PARK, Brooklyn (PIX11) — Security cameras apparently malfunctioned at the station where a gunman opened fire on Tuesday morning, shooting 10 and leaving another 13 injured in a rush-hour attack that left commuters bleeding and screaming.
Mayor Eric Adams said there was a problem with the camera system at the Sunset Park subway station. He said they were looking into the issue.
“We’re not sure if it was a video feed problem,” he said. “If there’s a problem, it must be immediately repaired.”
As of September 2021, all of New York City’s subway stations had been equipped with cameras. Some of the cameras broadcast in real-time to the subway’s security center, while others record locally and can provide footage that can be used in criminal investigations.
MTA Chairman and CEO Janno Lieber said there are 10,000 cameras in the system and 600 along the N line in Brooklyn.
Police and FBI agents canvassed businesses nearby for video on Tuesday. They also asked witnesses and riders to share any video they had of the attack. FBI agents and members of the Joint Terrorism Task Force surveyed nearby businesses, interviewing witnesses and searching for surveillance footage.
One rider’s video, shot through a closed door between subway cars, shows a person in a hooded sweatshirt raising an arm and pointing at something — possibly the door to a conductor’s booth — as five bangs sound. In another video, both smoke and people pour out of a subway car. Some run for an exit; a few others limp off the train, and one falls to the platform.
“Someone call 911!” a person shouts.
Other video and photos from the scene show people tending to bloodied passengers lying on the platform — some amid what appear to be small puddles of blood — and another person on the floor of a subway car.
Police and officials have urged anyone with video or information to come forward. The suspect remained on the run Tuesday evening. A $50,000 reward was offered for information that leads to an arrest and conviction in the case.
Police are looking to speak with a person of interest, Frank R. James, in connection with a U-Haul truck rented under his name. The key to the truck was found on the train where the attack occurred.
Submit tips to police by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), visiting crimestoppers.nypdonline.org, downloading the NYPD Crime Stoppers mobile app, or texting 274637 (CRIMES) then entering TIP577. Spanish-speaking callers are asked to dial 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).
