Staff Reporter: No Bangladeshi was reported injured in the attack on a subway train in Brooklyn, New York. The incident took place at around 8:30 am local time on Tuesday (April 12) at the Bangladeshi-dominated Brooklyn’s 36th Street station. At least 16 people were injured. Ten people were gun injured in the shooting. There are no Bangladeshis among the injured.
All schools and shops in the area have been closed since the incident. Several expatriate Bangladeshi businessmen in Brooklyn have reported that a large number of Bangladeshis commute to work by taking the DN and R trains at 36 Street Station. But no Bangladeshi has been reported injured in Tuesday morning’s gun attack.
Images from the scene showed bloodied passengers lying on the floor of the smoke-filled station.The attacker fled the station, and witnesses quoted in US media described a man wearing an orange construction vest and gas mask.
The suspect threw a smoke bomb to distract the crowd, police sources told NBC News. Most of those who were are being treated for injuries were shot, police said, including one victim who was critically wounded.
Others are being treated for smoke inhalation and injuries sustained in the initial panic. No motive for the attack has yet been given. People have been advised to stay away from the area.
Another witness, identified only as Claire, told the New York Post that she had “lost count” of the number of shots that were fired.
The woman said she saw the suspect dropping “some kind of cylinder that sparked at the top” – initially believing him to be a subway worker because of the orange vest that she said he was wearing.
New York’s fire department told the BBC it originally received a call about smoke inside the station. But officials arrived to find multiple people shot and injured.
Police have said there are now no active explosive devices inside the station after initial reports said some had been found.
There is a “huge” number of police and emergency responders attending, reports the BBC’s New York bureau chief John Mervin who is at the scene.
Both President Joe Biden and Attorney General Merrick Garland have been briefed on the incident. US cities have seen a troubling rise in gun violence incidents over the past two years.
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