Police were still searching for the suspect.
Officials say at least eight people were injured in the blaze, and at least 16 others were injured in the attack at 36th Street Station in the town’s Sunset Park district.
According to multiple law enforcement sources who were informed about the investigation, the first information stated that the suspect who fled was a man wearing a construction vest and a gas mask.
THIS IS AN INFORMATION UPDATE.  The previous AP story follows.
A gunman filled a smoky subway train and shot dead several people on Tuesday, leaving injured people bleeding on a Brooklyn platform as others ran screaming, authorities said.  Police were still searching for the suspect.
Officials say at least five people were injured in the blaze and at least 11 were injured in the attack on 36th Street Station in the municipality’s Sunset Park neighborhood.
The video of a train rider shows smoke and people pouring out of a subway car.  Crying erupted as passengers ran out as some others limped off the train.  One falls to the podium, and a person shouts, “Someone call 911!”  In other videos and photos from the scene, people tend to look at bloodied passengers lying on the platform, some between small blood puddles and another person lying on the floor of a subway car.
“My subway door opened the disaster. It was smoke and blood and people were screaming,” eyewitness Sam Carcamo told 1010 WINS radio station, saying he saw a giant flood of smoke pouring from train N as soon as the door opened.
According to multiple law enforcement sources who were informed about the investigation, the first information stated that the suspect who fled was a man wearing a construction vest and a gas mask.
Investigators believe the suspect developed a smoke device before opening fire, said one law enforcement official.  Investigators are examining whether the suspect may have used the device in an attempt to distract people before firing, the official said.
Fire and police officials were investigating reports of an explosion, but the police department wrote on Twitter that “there are no active explosive devices at the moment.”  Several smoke devices were found at the scene, said Mayor Fabien Levy’s spokesman, who confirmed the initial number of gunshot wounds.
At least 11 people are being treated at two local hospitals.  No MTA employees were physically injured, according to a statement from the Local 100 Transport Workers’ Union.
Juliana Fonda, a broadcast engineer at WNYC-FM, told the Gothamist news site she was on the train when passengers in the car behind her started knocking on each other’s door.
“There were a lot of loud ups and downs and there was smoke in the other car,” he said.  “And people were trying to get in and they couldn’t, they were knocking on the door to get in our car.”
President Joe Biden and Attorney General Merrick Garland were briefed on the incident, as was Governor Kathy Hotsul.  New York Mayor Eric Adams, who is in solitary confinement following a positive COVID-19 test on Sunday, was briefed at the mayor’s residence.
The incident happened on a subway line that crosses southern Brooklyn in a neighborhood – inhabited mainly by Hispanic and Asian communities – about 15 minutes by train to Manhattan.  Local schools, including Sunset Park High School across the street, were locked.
Brooklyn-based Danny Mastrogiorgio had just left his son at school when he saw a crash of passengers, some of whom were injured, running in panic from the subway stairs at nearby 25th Street.  At least two had visible injuries to their legs, he said.
“It was crazy,” he told the Associated Press.  “Nobody knew exactly what was going on.”
Alan Lee was running his business, Cafe Nube, when half a dozen police cars and fire trucks suddenly crashed into the block containing the 36th Street station.
“Then they started leading the people on the block to the adjacent square and then closed the subway entrance,” he said near the door of the cafe, he told the AP.  When he noticed the bomber’s officers and dogs, he was sure it was not a daily problem with the subway.
A sea of ​​emergency lights was visible from at least twelve blocks away, where a police cordon had been set up.
New York City has seen a wave of high-profile shootings and incidents in recent months, including the city’s subway.  One of the most shocking was in January, when a woman was pushed to her death in front of the train by a stranger.
Adams, a Democrat just over 100 days in office, has put crime-fighting – especially on the subway – at the heart of his early rule, pledging to send more police to stations and patrol stations.  It was not immediately clear if police had already been inside the station when the shootings took place.
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Associated Press reporters Michael Balsamo in Washington, DC, and Michelle L. Price and Jennifer Peltz contributed to this report.

As for the many people who were shot at the 36th Street subway station in Brooklyn, there are NO active explosive devices at this time.  All witnesses are invited to call @NYPDTips at # 800577TIPS.  Please stay away from the area.  More information is provided when available.  pic.twitter.com/8UoiCAXemB