acts and possession of burglary tools. police say he purchased the glock 9 millimeter handgun used in the attack at an ohio pawn shop in 2011. there are dozens of posts from james on social media, many filled with profanity-filled rants. i m on my way to philadelphia. reporter: he talks about traveling from milwaukee to philadelphia where police say he rented the u-haul van found a few miles from the scene of the attack. investigators still haven t determined the motive on why the suspect attacked the 36th street stop. that station is once again filled with commuters. the city runs on the subway. reporter: and you feel perfectly safe? yes. nbc s ron allen reporting from new york city for us there. you know, jonathan lemire, a couple of things to say. first of all, the new york city police department is extraordinary in its reach. if you commit a crime in this city, they re going to find you whether you re an international
with arizona plates somewhere in this city. be on the lookout has been sent out to nypd officers to look out for this u-haul van in connection with this shooting that happened just before 8:30 a.m. police are looking again for that. we also know that there was a bag left behind with at least possible fireworks, fireworks inside of that bag. other outlets are reporting that there were also other items in there. i can report there were fireworks in the bag. all of this as the search continues for a black male, 5 5 , about 180 pounds, heavy build. police say that he came in to that train and he put on a gas mask as the train made its way in to the 36th street stop that was making its way to manhattan. he opened fire on that train car as smoke was billowing from the canister. then shot people on the platform as well. that train continued on in to the next station. people in the chaos were being