Members of the New York Police Department and emergency vehicles crowd the streets after a rush-hour shooting at a subway station in the New York borough of Brooklyn on April 12, 2022, where authorities said "several undetonated devices" were recovered amid chaotic scenes. Photo: AFP

China's Consulate General in New York has not received any information about Chinese casualties in the Brooklyn subway shooting, and the Chinese Foreign Ministry and consulate general in New York will continue to follow the incident and remind Chinese citizens in the US to raise their risk awareness, Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday. 

The Chinese Consulate General in New York immediately activated the emergency mechanism for consular protection after the shooting on Tuesday, and has worked through multiple channels to verify whether Chinese citizens were involved, Zhao Lijian, spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said at Wednesday's media briefing. 

According to US media, the mass shooting on a crowded subway in Brooklyn during Tuesday's morning rush has resulted in at least 29 injuries and the suspect remain at large. CNN reported that the suspect put on a gas mask, deployed a gas canister and then began shooting. The shooter's motive is still unknown.

"We have always opposed and condemned gun violence, and we extend our condolences to the injured and their families," Zhao said.

Incidents like the one in Brooklyn happens a lot in the US, it's part of America's chronic problem of gun violence, Zhao said, noting that gun violence has become a serious human rights disease in American society.

Coincidentally, the same day the shooting happened, the US State Department released its annual human rights report, pointing fingers at other countries over human rights situations, but said nothing for its deteriorating human rights situation, systemic racism and gun violence, Zhao said. 

Aren't the lives and safety of its people worth of the US' concern? Zhao asked, saying the US has become a nation of gun violence.

We sincerely hope that tragedies like the Brooklyn subway shooting will never happen again, and that the American people will live a life free of shootings, fear and discrimination,Zhao said.

The US government should stop pointing fingers at other countries' human rights situations and do something concrete to solve its own problems, Zhao said.

Global Times