It was a subway attack that shocked the nation: A gunman set off smoke bombs in a New York City subway train car and fired a barrage of bullets, shooting 10 passengers during rush hour.
For the first time, video exclusively obtained by NBC New York provides a look inside that subway car as passengers fought to survive.
Some of the evidence against shooter Frank James had been kept secret until now. Attorneys for NBC asked a Brooklyn federal judge to release that evidence, which they did on Wednesday.
In chilling video that can be difficult to watch, the injured and bleeding can be seen lining the floor of the still-moving N train in Sunset Park. The agony is audible as the victims desperately wait to get to the next stop.
Pictures: Multiple People Hurt in Brooklyn Subway Shooting
Loud bangs are heard, with a person holding a cellphone camera asking if they were gunshots. Another person can be heard saying "that's a lot of blood" as the camera pans to the blood-soaked floor.
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"Please, someone help me get off," a voice can heard saying, desperate to leave the train. A man volunteers to help. As the train approaches the 36th Street station, another voice can be heard complaining that his right leg is hurt.
"Put your weight on my shoulder," a man tells one of the injured trying to get off the train, as smoke lingers inside the subway car. "Just go slow, don't let people bump into you."
People on board are then seen rushing to exit the train when the doors open, trying to get out onto the platform — and away from the terrifying scene on board the train.
While the gunman was not captured on the never-before-seen video, the gravity of what had just happened was clear, as New Yorkers rushed to help the wounded. Many were seen lying on the ground of the subway platform, some with others crowding over them trying to help with the bleeding.
In about a minute, an MTA worker arrives at the scene.
"Hold the train!" the worker yells out. "Anyone see what happened?"
He asks the victims and witnesses to "calm down so I can relay the message" to police.
"It was an explosion bomb. Black smoke, popping sounds. Came from the end of the train, next to a construction worker with orange clothes on," one man can be heard describing.
Minutes later, an army of first responders can be seen arriving — but not before the suspect escaped, hopping on another train across the platform.
Additional video released on Wednesday shows some of what has already been seen: The attacker, James, in an orange construction jacket carrying the guns and devices for his April 12 attack. It would be another 30 hours until the 63-year-old James was ultimately caught.
In more never-before-seen video, the gunman is seen giving video statements as he talked with law enforcement in the aftermath of the attack. For the first time, FBI agents and police can be seen pressing James to tell whether the public is still in danger. After being asked multiple times if there are more plans to hurt people, or more weapons out there, James repeatedly says he doesn't know what they're talking about.
He would later claim he had guns prior to the subway shooting, but admitted that he had a black bag of supplies and he drove the van used to bring the weapons from Philadelphia to New York City. When asked about the U-Haul van, he told agents "yes, that's mine."
In the two-hour tape, he at times tries to nap, and at one point wets himself. He also told investigators "I am a loner. I live by myself. I drink and I make music videos. That's all I do."
He also explains why he finally decided to call and give himself up.
"I get my phone and I opened YouTube and there was video after video of me passed off as the suspect," James tells investigators.
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The videos come just a day after James pleaded guilty to federal terrorism charges, admitting to his role in the subway attack.
James, who referred to himself as the "prophet of doom" in online posts before the shooting, has been held in a federal jail in Brooklyn since the attack. Dressed as a maintenance worker, James fired a 9-mm handgun at least 33 times after setting off a pair of smoke grenades — wounding victims ranging in age from 16 to 60 in the legs, back, buttocks and hand as the train pulled into a station.
One of the city's worst subway attacks in recent years, it sparked a manhunt that ended only when he called the police on himself -- and raised questions about the MTA's surveillance footage system and camera protocol in the following months.
Miraculously, none of the victims suffered life-threatening gunshots. Other subway riders were hurt as well, mainly in the chaos that ensued after the barrage of rapid gunfire and curtains of smoke in the midst of the morning rush. Prosecutors said the assault was “intended to inflict maximum damage at the height of rush hour.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Sara Winik said James set off smoke grenades before shooting so that passengers would flee to one side of the subway car, enabling him to shoot them more easily. The trajectory of his gunshots showed he was aiming “center mass” for maximum lethality, she said.
The attack upended the ritual of the morning commute, "endangering the lives of countless New Yorkers who rely on the safety of the subway system every day," Winik said.
Following the attack, a law enforcement search of James's apartment and storage unit uncovered a cache of weapons, prosecutors said, including handgun ammunition, a barrel for a handgun that allows a silencer to be attached, a high-capacity rifle magazine, a stun gun and a blue smoke cannister.
James initially pleaded not guilty to charges in connection with the attack, but told his lawyers in December that he wanted to plead guilty. They didn't immediately explain why he wanted to admit his involvement. His lawyers said James had struggled with mental illness, but James told the judge he was of sound mind while admitting his guilt on Tuesday.
Wearing a beige jail jumpsuit and reading from a prepared statement, James said Tuesday "while it was not my intention to cause death, I was fully aware a death or deaths could occur as a result of my discharging a firearm in such an enclosed space such as a subway car."
He pleaded guilty to all 11 counts in his indictment. Ten of those charges — each one corresponding to a specific victim — accuse him of committing a terrorist attack against a mass transportation system carrying riders and workers. The 11th charge accuses James of discharging a firearm during a violent crime.
He didn’t have a plea agreement, and prosecutors are seeking to put him in prison for decades. His lawyers — arguing that his conduct amounted to aggravated assault, not attempted murder — said he shouldn't serve more than 18 years.
"Mr. James has accepted responsibility for his crimes since he turned himself in to law enforcement," James' lawyers, Mia Eisner-Grynberg and Amanda David, said in a statement. "A just sentence in this case will carefully balance the harm he caused with his age, his health, and the Bureau of Prisons’ notoriously inadequate medical care."
In a letter to Judge William F. Kuntz II late last week, prosecutors indicated they planned to seek a harsher punishment than the roughly 32-to-39-year sentence that federal sentencing guidelines would recommend.
James planned the attack for years and endangered the lives of dozens of people, prosecutors said in the letter. He allegedly began purchasing items to use in an attack as early as 2017, including smoke grenades, weapons, ammo and a disguise, the Department of Justice said. In the months leading up to the attack, prosecutors said James conducted online searches for things relating to NYC and the subway system, particularly in the area where he conducted the attack and where he parked his rented U-Haul van.
"Frank James cold-bloodedly shot innocent New Yorkers traveling on the subway in Brooklyn and brought terror to our great city. James’s crimes of violence have been met with swift justice,” said U.S. Attorney Breon Peace for the Eastern District of New York. “James’s admission of guilt to all eleven counts of the superseding indictment acknowledges the terror and pain he caused. This guilty plea is an important step towards holding James fully accountable and helping the victims of the defendant’s violence and our great city heal."
Previously, he vowed to fight the charges and refused to leave his jail cell to appear at an earlier court hearing, leading Kuntz to issue an order instructing U.S. Marshals to use “all necessary force” to ensure that James showed up to Tuesday's plea hearing.
Before the shooting, James, who is Black, posted dozens of videos online in which he ranted about race, violence and his struggles with mental illness. In some, he decried the treatment of Black people and talked about how he was so frustrated, "I should have gotten a gun and just started shooting." In one video, he appeared to be in a packed New York City subway car, raising his finger to point out passengers one by one.
In other videos foreshadowing his plans, he stated "if you hear the name Frank James on the news, if something happens to a Frank James that’s sixty-something years old, chances are that’s me."
James, who's been locked up at a Brooklyn federal jail since his arrest, told Kuntz that a jail psychologist visits him once a month “to speak with me and see how I'm doing."
James had been scheduled to stand trial in late February, where prosecutors said evidence would've refuted James' claim that he intended only to injure, not kill. He now faces up to life in prison on each of the 11 counts, according to the DOJ.
The gunman did not express remorse for his actions, but said he will do that when he is sentenced over the summer. A specific sentencing date has not yet been set.