Eight people were injured, four of them hospitalised, after bear spray was released inside a crowded subway car in Manhattan on Sunday night.
The incident occurred just after 9.30pm on a southbound No. 4 train at the 14th Street–Union Square station. Police said eight people were affected by the substance, with four taken to Lenox Hill Hospital in a stable condition and four treated at the scene.
Officers are searching for a suspect described as a man in his 30s wearing a camouflage ski mask. Witnesses told police the man fled upstairs and out of the station after spraying the irritant, which police believe was bear spray.
Video shared on the Citizen app showed a heavy police presence at the scene, and subway services were briefly disrupted while emergency crews responded. No arrests have been made and an investigation is under way.
The incident comes just over a month after six people were hurt in June when bear spray was used inside Washington Square Park. That suspect was taken into custody.
