Brooklyn Shooting on April 12th

By Grace Schuringa

New York City, New York

Emergency vehicles and police in Sunset Park following the shooting. (Angela Weiss / AFP / Getty Images)

On the morning of April 12th, a man disguised as a construction worker wearing a gas mask opened fire in the crowded Brooklyn northbound subway. The man detonated two smoke grenades and emptied two magazines in one of the train cars.

29 victims are currently being treated for gunshot wounds, smoke inhalation, and other injuries. A source closely connected to the investigation claims that the gun may have jammed, preventing injury beyond the 10 gunshot victims.

Coincidentally, the cameras at the train station appear to have, according to Mayor Adams, “malfunctioned” at the time the shooting took place. The only descriptions the police have are first hand accounts, describing a 5’5” stocky man, weighing between 180 and 200 pounds, as well as a photo captured on an eyewitness’s phone. Police originally claimed that the vest he was wearing at the time of the attack was green, but have now reverted to saying it was actually orange. $50,000 dollars is being awarded for any additional information on the shooting.

Recovered at the scene was a nine millimeter semi-automatic pistol, hatchet, gasoline, a bag of undetonated fireworks, and several more smoke canisters. Sources such as The New York Post, CNN, The New York Times, and ABC, discuss whether the gunman left behind a car key or credit card, connecting him to a rented U-Haul truck. The truck—with license plates registered to Arizona—was discovered hours after the incident, parked a few miles south of where the shooting occurred, in Gravesend, Brooklyn.

The recently disclosed person of interest, Frank R. James (age 62), is being considered as a ‘suspect at large’. Surveillance footage revealing a man fitting James’ description caught him emerging from the U-Haul van. It appears he drove the rental in from Pennsylvania on April 11th. It was discovered that James also has had previous residencies along with criminal records in Philadelphia and Wisconsin. Law enforcement strengthened the suspicion of his unclear ties to the city, as well.

In response to the act of terror, Mayor Eric Adams doubled the police force at each train station in New York. In addition, he claims that he is open to implementing measures of security, such as metal detectors in the future. City Hall spokesman Maxwell Young attempted to retract the promises Adams made by stating that he, himself, is a frequent rider and that metal detectors are “not practical.”

Frank James posted lengthy YouTube videos last month in which he singled out recently elected Mayor Adams in saying, “I’m a victim of your mental health program.”

“What’s going on in that place is violence, not physical violence but the kind of violence a child experiences in grade school..that would make him go get a gun and shooting motherf–ers,” he continued.

As a result of his videos, Adams has doubled his personal security team in fear of his own safety.

The entry and exit points into the N train which James used are unclear at the moment, along with no motive other than suspicion that he entered the train with ‘intent on violence’. MTA head Janno Lieber released a statement addressing the ongoing investigation to pinpoint any possible links to the victims or train station: “What the motivation of this maniac may or may not have been, it’s too premature to say.”

Fitim Gjeloshi stated he was the first to notice and be targeted by the mumbling Brooklyn shooter. He noticed the unusual suspect sitting alone, and claims: “I looked at him, and I was like, this guy must be on drugs.”

Whalebone Magazine posted on Instagram this evening, offering to compensate for Ubers or taxi fares to those too afraid to use public transportation at the moment, adding: “keep looking out for each other.”