New York in shock, police chasing a suspect

New York in shock.

The attack on the subway, the democratization tool par excellence in a city of great disparities, and the manhunt still underway worry citizens.

The police try to reassure but at the moment more than 12 hours have passed since the accident and the suspect remains on the run.

Authorities are looking for Frank James, considered a 'person of interest' in the investigation.

The 62-year-old African American is the owner of the credit card used to rent the van linked to the attack and found a few blocks from the Sunset Park station in Brooklyn.

At the moment very little is known about James: he rented the vehicle in Philadelphia, where he has one of his residences.

The other is in Wisconsin.

Preliminary investigations into his presence on social media revealed "worrying" videos in which he spoke of the homeless problem, of New York and its mayor Eric Adams.

The police merely define James as a person of interest and not a suspect or alleged perpetrator.

It is not clear whether he is due to excessive prudence or because it has not really emerged with force that he may be responsible.

Inside the station the cameras were not working and so did the police - offering 50.

Details about the minutes of terror and panic in the subway continue to emerge intact: the suspect was inside the car when he pulled a smoke canister from his backpack.

Then he put on the gas mask and started shooting.

At least 33 rounds were fired then the pistol, a 9mm Glock, jammed and this would have avoided the worst.

At that point the man, dressed like a subway attendant, ran away.

At the stop, in addition to the used gun, a bag was found with the keys of the rented van, ammunition, a hatchet, fireworks and a container with gasoline.

"We were lucky, it could have been a lot worse," says New York Police Chief Keechant Sewell of the 23 injured.

None of them are life threatening.

Sewell then assures that the investigations continue tightly with hundreds of agents engaged in the field.

Adams also tries to ease the tension by ensuring his commitment to combat rampant violence, particularly in the subway which has long been the stage of attacks of various kinds.

Among the hypotheses feared by the mayor is that of metal detectors.

Joe Biden also assures the necessary support for the battle, called to the hard fist on many sides in the face of a leap in violence at the national level.