NYC subway shooting suspect arrested

A suspect in the shooting on a subway train in Brooklyn, New York City was found and detained on Wednesday, authorities confirmed. 

The attack left 23 people wounded, 10 by gunfire, just the day before. 

New York officials had alerted the public about the manhunt underway for the attacker just hours after the incident on Tuesday afternoon. 

What did officials say?

"My fellow New Yorkers: we got him," said New York City's mayor Eric Adams while opening a press conference to announce the arrest.

"We hope this arrest brings some solace to the victims," Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell said.

Authorities traced the man's identity using a trove of evidence left at the scene, after the shooter escaped the chaos in the aftermath of his attack.

Among the evidence was the handgun he used, ammunition magazines, a hatchet, smoke grenades, gasoline and the keys to a van he had rented.

They also found that he had posted social media videos decrying the US as a violent and racist place, while also complaining about New York City's mayor.

Police said on Wednesday that the suspect was spotted by officers on a Manhattan street after someone saw him at a McDonald's restaurant and called law enforcement. Officers approached the man on the street and arrested him without incident.

Later on Wednesday, law enforcement officials told the Associated Press that the suspect himself had called the police and told them to come get him.

Suspect left evidence behind

Police said the gunman set off smoke grenades in the crowded subway car and then fired at least 33 shots with a handgun. 

As the subway car approached the 36th street Station in Brooklyn, wounded and panicked passengers spilled out onto the platform, where emergency services were called to.

Five people suffered critical gunshot wounds, though they were expected to survive. At least a dozen others who escaped gunshot wounds were treated for smoke inhalation and other injuries.

Angry rants on social media

The day before the attack, the suspect posted a video on YouTube saying that drastic action was needed to stop crime against African Americans in the US. 

"It's not going to get better until we make it better,'' he said, adding that things would only change if certain people were "stomped, kicked and tortured'' out of their "comfort zone.''

In a separate video, the man declares that the US was "born in violence, it's kept alive by violence or the threat thereof and it's going to die a violent death. There's nothing going to stop that.''

The suspect also criticized the city's mayor and the governor's plan to address homelessness and safety in the subway system, saying it was "doomed for failure.''

He also referred to himself as a "victim'' of the city's mental health programs. 

jcg/rs (AP, Reuters)