A day after bloody Brooklyn subway shooting, resilient NYC commuters return to the trains
NEW YORK — New Yorkers have places to be — even when a crazed gunman is on the loose.
The city’s subway system lurched back to life Wednesday morning, a day after a bloody attack on an N train near the 36th St. station in Brooklyn left 10 people with gunshot wounds and another 13 injured. The attacker strapped on a gas mask and released smoke canisters before he fired 33 shots in the train car, police said.
“That’s my neighborhood, it’s really hard because you have to get out everyday to go work,” said Damares Batista, 48, who regularly commutes along the same line as the shooting. “I just feel scared, a little scared. I see people on the train today they always on their phone but nobody was on the phone today everyone looking at each other.”
Police on Wednesday said Frank James, 62, was the suspect in the shooting, a change from Tuesday night when cops deemed him a person of interest. He’s still at large — and left a trail that included a U-Haul van he rented and parked on Kings Highway, as well dozens of YouTube videos where he rants about homelessness, Mayor Adams and race wars.
“I’m just moving on,” said Terry Williams, 37, a regular subway rider who commutes through the Franklin Ave. station in Crown Heights. “It’s f-ed up, people got their own problems but we just have to keep going.”
Like many New York City commuters, Lonya Nash said she took the subway Wednesday morning because it’s an easier alternative to driving.
Nash, 34, lives in Suffolk County, and regularly commutes to school via the F and G train.
“It’s kind of wasteful for me to take my car so I figured the subway would be the best route,” said Nash. “It’s unnerving that someone can get down in the subway with so much stuff.
Authorities said the suspect boarded the train with an assortment of luggage filled with fireworks, smoke bombs and a hatchet. A Glock 9mm pistol was recovered at the scene.
“It’s even more unnerving that they still haven’t found him... I hope he’s done and doesn’t do anything else and I hope they find him quickly.”
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