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FDNY Says, 13 Injured, At Least Five Shot in NYC Subway Shooting. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired April 12, 2022 - 10:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[10:30:08]

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN NEWSROOM: And as we've been describing one wearing potentially a gas mask and orange construction vest, that could very well not be the case too or perhaps he got rid of it. Talk about that challenge in, A, getting a lead but also knowing that that could very well not be the perpetrator at hand.

CHARLES RAMSEY, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, you just have to be careful. As an investigator, you can't really speculate. You have got to facts. And so that person is obviously a suspect because it's out there. But it doesn't mean that's the one who actually did the actual shooting. We don't know. They may already know that because they may have video that shows this individual is the actual perpetrator of the crime.

But I learned a hard lesson years ago when I was chief in D.C., and you'll remember the D.C. sniper case in 2002. We spent 2.5 weeks looking for two white guys in a white box truck. It turned out to be two black guys in a blue Chevy, that really were the perpetrators. And all that was based on eyewitnesses at the scene that saw a box truck, saw a couple of white guys and assumptions made that these were probably the perpetrators, turned out not to be right.

So, you have to have an open mind. You don't know until you know. And that's just important. This could very well turn out to be the person. Maybe it did start on the train. It could have been a targeted assault and other people got injured as a result. None of that is really known right now. And that's what investigators are doing. They're trying to figure it out. They're trying to sort through what they have and come up with who's responsible and why did it happen.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN NEWSROOM: Why did they come prepared, it seemed, with the gas mask, with the smoke grenade, smoke device, as well as a loaded weapon on a New York subway car.

I do want to go now, and, Chief Ramsey, please stand by, I want to go to Stephen Nessen, he's a reporter for WNYC. He spoke to a number of people coming out of that station in Brooklyn. Stephen, if you're there, let us know what they told you.

STEPHEN NESSEN, WNYC RADIO TRANSPORTATION REPORTER (voice over): Hi there, yes. I spoke with a woman who was on a train actually going north just after the alleged shooting or whatever happened occurred. She was on a train, not the train where anything happened. We did hear there were gunshots but not on her train. Two victims, two people covered in blood, one man, I saw the video that she shared with me, appeared to have been shot in the chest. Another woman appeared to have blood on her shoulder. And there were actually like -- she said there were doctors on the train who were trying to tend to them. They had actually left the platform or the train car where the alleged incident occurred and were on the train going uptown and they got off at that train.

It was just one stop. It's like a two-minute, three-minute transfer from one station to the other. And then she said it was just like pandemonium. People are running out of the station. People lost their shirt, their shoes, their jackets, their glasses. And she said when she got above ground, on the sidewalk, there was another man who looked like he had been shot in the head or he had blood coming from his head. All those folks have been transferred to the hospital. We don't have, I believe, unless you've heard something, an official number of anyone that died, but 13 people have been injured today. But that's what I've heard here.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. And, Stephen, as a transportation reporter, is there any more insight you can give us about this area and this particular subway station, as noted by one of our previous guests, this is what is deemed a soft target, not a well-known station and not very crowded.

NESSEN (voice over): Right. This is in South Brooklyn. A lot of working class folks live out here, fairly diverse community as well, Latino, some various immigrants, some different Middle Eastern countries, as well as some old school New Yorkers as well, yes. And like the folks I spoke with, just commuters going to their jobs, this woman is going to Lower Manhattan. She said she does it all the time. Usually it's fairly sleepy but this is not close to a high crime neighborhood. And so, obviously, she was shocked.

But also, as you know, New York City is experiencing several shootings. So, in a way, like the woman I spoke said she's not that shocked that they're actually -- she finally witnessed a shooting because there has been an uptick in recent months.

SCIUTTO: Well, one detail you had there, speaking to an eyewitness who saw someone with a gunshot wound to the chest or chest area, that, of course, would be something serious. We do know at least five people have been shot, according to law enforcement officials, and there has been word that at least one of them is critical, as well as 13 injured, that may include other injuries from attempting to escape this attack, but we're waiting for more details on that.

Again, just resetting with the details we know about this attack, a shooting on a subway platform in Brooklyn. Police responded just first reports a little over an hour ago. Initially, there were reports of unexploded devices, we now know that appears to be a smoke device or smoke grenade, as you see there on the screen, 13 people taken to local hospitals, at least five people shot.

This is what people say about the alleged attacker, male perpetrator, possibly wearing a gas mask, that's important, of course, because we have some information he may have deployed a smoke grenade of some kind, also an orange construction vest. That suspect is still at large. Left the scene and we know, based on how the NYPD operates, there's a large manhunt under way as we speak.

Anthony Barksdale on the phone for us, led a police department, knows something about how police department respond to attacks like this. Tell us what you're seeing in this force deployment there and remarkably a remarkable one, an enormous one, and what we should expect to happen next.

ANTHONY BARKSDALE, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST (voice over): Well, as Joe said, you have to look at your resources. You want all resources that are not necessary to turn back to service, back to serving the public, back to their jobs as you can free the resources up. Those that are left on the crime scenes, those detectives are going to interview the victims, because they still have to be interviewed, they're going to hospitals and sorting that out. But these resources, it may look like a lot but there's clear need for whatever you're seeing to be there at the scene.

We have to understand that in a major incident like this, you have to establish a chain of command. You don't want one group doing something with evidence that the top of the incident doesn't know about. So it has to be unified teamwork. It has to be clear leadership. And at the same time, something that commissioner -- the Chief Ramsey talked about is getting information out to the public.

One of the big things that the NYPD did before any agency in the United States was live by a thing called CompStat, which is a management model. One of that is accurate timely intelligence clearly disseminated to all. In this day and age, with social media, it all includes the public. And as they get information out, as Chief Ramsey also said, this helps to keep the public educated and it lessens the fear. So, this is -- once again, we're going to see NYPD do incredible work here.

GOLODRYGA: Yes, with the help of eyewitnesses there, as we heard from one of them speaking to a local reporter, showing him what she captured on her own phone.

We are going to take a quick break. We will continue to be covering this breaking news for you. 13 injured here in New York City, at least five shot in a mass shooting incident in a train station, a subway station in Brooklyn, New York.

Stay with us. We'll be right back with more.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:40:00]

SCIUTTO: Back now with our breaking news coverage of a shooting on a subway platform in Brooklyn, New York. Our latest figures are at least five people shot, 13 people taken to area hospitals, a lone male gunman still at large, say police. We're joined now by Yav Montano. He was on the train as this shooting took place. Yav, if you can hear me, I want you to tell us what you saw.

YAV MONTANO, WITNESS TO NYC SUBWAY SHOOTING (voice over): Hi, good morning. So, this is crazy for me. So, I take the train every day to get to where I have to work. And everything seemed pretty normal. From 59th Street to 36th Street between -- because they're entering that express between the two stops is where all the dramatics happened. And I'm in the third part of the express train and it happened, like the smoke grenade or bomb went off, I would say, about two minutes before we got to the 36th Street platform.

And there was a train delayed because the train conductor said that there was train traffic ahead. So, the train was inching towards the 36th Street platform while this was happening. It seemed like it was planned because it's at least four minutes between the stop. So, this smoke bomb, and what I thought was fireworks, but I'm now reading and hearing that it was gunshots, and I'm thankful that I hid behind one of the chairs, but, yes, I honestly have no words for what I've experienced.

GOLODRYGA (voice over): Yes, I can't even imagine what that experience must have been like for you, Yav.

So, just to clarify, were you in the actual car where the shooting took place or were you in a separate car and still were witness and saw the smoke?

[10:45:01]

MONTANO (voice over): I was in the car.

GOLODRYGA (voice over): In the car.

MONTANO (voice over): I was in the front end of the third car and everything happened at the backend of the same car. So, what happened is, as soon as the smoke like flared up, it started to engulf everything. People started migrating to the front of the car. And at the front of the car, I don't know if people know this but it is one of those old trains where they locked the doors to travel in two cars. So, there was one on the train using all his strength to try to open the door and ended up opening up but the other door to get into the other car was locked.

And there were people in that other car that saw what was happening. They tried to open the door but they couldn't. So, we were stuck in the car. And, I mean, I don't know if this is too vulgar for T.V. but there was blood on the floor. There was a lot of blood trailing on the floor. And at the time, in the moment, I did not think that it was a shooting because it sounded like fireworks. All I saw was people trampling each other, trampling over each other, trying to get into the door, which was locked, and there's just a lot of panic. But, thankfully, the train moved fairly quickly to the next stop and everyone filed off the train in a rush.

SCIUTTO (voice over): Yav, we are so glad you're safe to be this close to that.

I wonder in the midst of the chaos, the smoke, the fear, did you see the gunman?

MONTANO (voice over): I didn't see anything. All I saw was smoke. And I saw smoke and I saw people running away and screaming towards me. So, I just moved around and sat behind the wooden plank on the side of the chair by the doors, the entry doors of the train cart, and I just stayed there. I was even scared to take a video. There was a gentleman next to me that said to put my phone away just because you never know what craziness can happen. The whole cart was engulfed in smoke. I had a mask on in the train. I couldn't even use my mask anymore because it was black with smoke. It was ridiculous.

GOLODRYGA: My goodness, Yav. I'm so sorry that you are -- have to experience this and I'm thankful that you're okay right now.

I know that in crises and situations like this, it's very difficult to get a sense of timing, but how long at your best estimate did you then have to wait for that subway car to stop and open and get out?

MONTANO (voice over): I would say, because we were moving between 59th Street and 36th Street. So, the stop before -- the local stop before 36th Street, I don't know which number it was, but I remember we were between 36th Street on the express line between 36th Street and the local stop after that. So, we were literally about to approach into the station while all of this was happening.

But there was a delay. The conductor said there was a delay because there's train traffic ahead of us. And during that delay was when the chaos was happening. So, we were stuck in the train right about to get to reach the stop, and then, thank goodness, the train moved within a minute. But I don't know what would happen if we were stuck there for longer.

SCIUTTO: Goodness, Yav. You get a sense of why now this shooter used a smoke grenade or something, as some sort of smoke device, wouldn't allow you or potential first responders at least in that moment to see who was carrying out the shooting.

I hate to ask you this because you described it and, by the way, we have, unfortunately, been showing pictures of blood on the ground in the subway station there. Were you able to see how many victims there were? Did you see any of the victims?

MONTANO (voice over): All I saw was people close to me who were on the floor. There were some people whose clothes, whose pants were covered in blood. There were some people -- it didn't even seem like their blood because the person whose pants had most of the blood was okay, walking and helping other people. At that moment in time, I couldn't tell who was injured. All I know is I saw like a lot of blood on the cart on the floor of the train cart and it was -- yes, I don't know how many victims there were. I did not see who had injuries. All I know is people filed out, people forgot bags and shoes and they just left everything to just get out of there as soon as possible.

GOLODRYGA (voice over): Yav, how many people would you estimate were in that car with you?

MONTANO (voice over): If I had to say -- I would say, about maybe 40 people, maybe 40 to 50 people.

[10:50:05]

Because it wasn't like packed like rush hour usually is. It was a little bit lighter, but seats were still taken, there were still people standing up. So, there was enough space to do whatever the person did.

SCIUTTO: Lord. Yav, that number of people in the confined space of a subway car with an active shooter, it is just frightening to imagine. I'm sorry you had to go through it. I am glad you are safe.

We've heard that there were -- from some eyewitness accounts that there were doctors on the cart who volunteered to help some of the victims after. Did you see that take place? Did you see any of the first responders arrive?

MONTANO (voice over): Yes. So, I heard there's somebody who was speaking before me. They said that at the next stop, because as soon as I got off, I got on the local train, the R train. The conductor of the R train said, everybody get on the train so we can get out of here. He brought us to the next stop, which is 25th Street, I believe, but we stopped at 25th Street and everybody got off the train because nobody was moving.

It was an injured person in the front cart of the train and that was when I saw they made a system announcement in the train station that any health people or anybody, doctors, nurses, if anybody can come to the front of the train and assist, that's the only time that I heard people getting assistance. I tried to get out of the 36th Street train station as soon as I possibly could.

GOLODRYGA (voice over): Yav, you said that you thought that the gunshots, now looking back, that you thought they were some fire crackers of some sort. How many did you hear and how long can you estimate that they went on for?

MONTANO (voice over): I couldn't even keep count. Because the thing, it sounded loose, like fireworks on the floor. That's what it sounded like to me. And when I heard it, I didn't think gunshots but I did think I need to protect myself and whatever it is, even if it was a gunshot. It just sounded like a bunch of scattered popping.

And whether it's fireworks or gunshots, stuff like that shouldn't be happening on the train. So, regardless, I just hid. I moved myself out of the way. I tried to make space for this elderly lady who even handed me her little pepper spray from her purse just in case something happened. She gave it to me out of her purse and said, use it just in case. That's how desperate people were.

SCIUTTO (voice over): Lord, Lord, Yav, to go through this -- we understand we have some video you were able to shoot. We're going to play that now. Here it is. Now, Yav, we're seeing people there covering their mouths, smoke in the car. As the car is moving, how soon after the shooting was this?

MONTANO (voice over): This video took place after all of the popping and shooting and the train, like I remember I said the train is delayed between 36th Street and the local stop. This is when the train started moving to approach the station.

And the thing is I don't think there was anybody who was focused on recording what was happening. Because while I was crouched down behind the wooden part by the door, there was a gentleman also next to me who said to put my phone away, just in case some craziness happens. That's why the video is only ten seconds long. I just wanted to get a video of the chaos that was happening in there and the gentleman next to me said, put your phone away. You don't know what could happen. So, I put my phone away and I just focused on trying to get out as safely as I could.

GOLODRYGA (voice over): It really is something to hear you tell now two stories of passengers trying to help each other, whether it's the woman who gave your pepper spray or the man sitting next to you telling you to put the phone away because he was frightened it would be too dangerous.

We see people covering mouths and eyes from the smoke. I'm just curious, did it have any impact on you, did it hurt your eyes, was there any coughing or was it just -- yes, give us more information on that.

MONTANO (voice over): Well, I'm asthmatic, so this was not an ideal situation for me. There was a lot of coughing and breathing. The same gentleman that was next to me was telling people to take slow breaths to calm them down.

[10:55:05]

So, there were some people in our close area that were listening. But more or less, there was people just panicking, focusing on getting out, trying to push themselves out.

But like I said earlier, my mask was black with smoke, both sides. I can't even -- it's trash. It's actually trash. It didn't -- you can't use it anymore. That's how thick the smoke was. I couldn't see anything, eyes were burning. It was terrible.

SCIUTTO (voice over): Yes. Well, there's a reason this attacker, it seemed, to use the smoke, distract, strike fear, perhaps obscure him or being able to see him by the witnesses or any first responders.

Yav, I do have to ask you, where are you now? We're glad you're safe. You came close to something horrible here. Where are you now?

MONTANO (voice over): I'm actually at work in Williamsburg. So, I take the N train from Bensonhurst to union square. And I take the L train back from Manhattan to Brooklyn to get to Williamsburg. I do this on a regular basis, at least three or four times a week. So, for this to happen on Tuesday -- this happening on any day of the week is just ridiculous. It's scary to me.

SCIUTTO (voice over): Well, you showed up to work right after. That's pretty incredible. That's New York, ladies and gentlemen.

You see the scene out there right now. The police just outside the stairs leading down to the 36th Street station there in Brooklyn, as we've been reporting throughout the hour. A shooting took place on that subway car. That video you're seeing there is where the shooting took place, shot by Yav Montano, who we've been interviewing there, an eyewitness to this shooting, including the use of a smoke grenade or some smoke device. At least five shot, some 13 injured, suspect is still at large.

Yav Montano, we are glad you're safe. Thank you for joining us.

MONTANO (voice over): Thank you.

GOLODRYGA (voice over): Thank you, Yav.

MONTANO (voice over): Thank you very much. And I hope you guys enjoy your day and thank you for shedding light on this story. A lot of people need to know more about safety and everything. I hope everybody that was affected by this crazy situation is safe. And God bless everybody in New York City.

GOLODRYGA (voice over): Yav, thank you for capturing this for us and for giving viewers a sense of what those moments were like for you. Be well.

MONTANO (voice over): Thank you.

GOLODRYGA: We want to quickly to go to Law Enforcement Correspondent Evan Perez -- Senior Justice Correspondent Evan Perez. And, Evan, once again, we're reminded, we talk to these experts who have table-top exercise to prepare for situations like this. Obviously, everyday commuters do not and here you see them responding to this terror attack on that subway.

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Bianna. Look, this is the first thing that comes to mind, especially for officials here in Washington as they're watching some of these images, they are responding, they're trying to figure out whether this is -- what this exactly is, and whether it's a terrorist attack or whether it's something else, more localized there in New York.

And I think, right now, they have more questions than answers. We know the attorney general, we know the homeland security secretary are both now being briefed because this is an incident of national importance until they find this person to try to figure out what exactly happened.

As you said, there's a lot of preparation, especially in New York, because it is one of the top targets for terrorists around the world, for there to be preparation for things like this. And so that's what you see a little bit of the response there from all of the agencies that you see now at the subway station there in Brooklyn. At this point, again, we don't know much beyond what the NYPD has put out, which is this is a smoke grenade, it appears some kind of device that perhaps was used to obscure the fleeing of the suspect who carried out the shooting, and now there's a manhunt under way.

SCIUTTO: Evan Perez, thanks so much.

As we were discussing earlier, New York is a city that has suffered through gun violence, that suffered through terror attacks and built a police force around responding to these kinds of things and quickly. And you see some of those force response there in the lower half of our screen. On the right, Bianna, this view that we're seeing and our viewers are seeing from inside the subway car, where this shooting took place, as the car was moving between stations, filled with smoke, a smoke grenade thrown, it appears, by the attacker, just remarkable and frightening to see.

GOLODRYGA: And passengers unable to move into another car. The doors were locked in between the cars. So, moments there, I don't know how many countless minutes they were all waiting for those doors to finally open.

As we said, we will be continuing to follow this developing story, the subway attack and shooting in New York City, at least 13 injured, five known to be shot and are in the hospital right now.

[11:00:06]

A very busy morning here in New York City, we'll continue coverage