A man has been detained in New York City on suspicion of shooting ten people during rush hour at a Brooklyn subway station. Frank James, 62, is accused of donning a construction worker’s helmet, vest, and gas mask and then starting a fire with smoke grenades. Following the incident, a large-scale 30-hour search was started.
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Mr James was arrested in Manhattan on Wednesday afternoon after a tip-off, authorities said.
“My fellow New Yorkers: we got him,” Mayor Eric Adams stated during a press conference via video.
Mr James was identified as the lone suspect in Tuesday’s attack at Brooklyn’s 36th Street subway station, in which 23 people were injured, ten of them by gunshot. The incident re-ignited demands for an investigation into violence on the city’s public transportation system.
Mr James was apprehended “without incident” according to New York Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell. “There was nowhere left for him to run,” she said.
Police declined to comment on who phoned in the tip, while the Associated Press and CNN say that the suspect tipped off police to his whereabouts in lower Manhattan.
Mr James will face many charges, including violating a federal statute prohibiting “terrorist and other violent attacks” on public transportation networks, officials said. If convicted, he may face life in jail.
He was previously arrested nine times, according to authorities, and has links to Ohio, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey.
The hunt for Mr James became harder when the metro station’s cameras failed to operate properly. On Wednesday, officials were determining if one or more cameras at the station had been damaged.
Although the alleged shooter fled the scene, he was connected to the incident through a leased U-Haul truck. The van’s key, which was hired in Philadelphia, was discovered at the site, police said. Also discovered were a Glock 9mm pistol, three ammo magazines, a plastic bottle carrying fuel, and a credit card with Mr James’ identity.
According to an FBI document, Mr James leased the U-Haul in Philadelphia on Monday and drove it to New York the following day. According to the FBI, records indicated that the Glock was legally purchased in Ohio “by an individual named ‘Frank Robert James.'”
According to court filings, Mr James had posted black nationalist rhetoric and prejudiced rants online and “made various statements about the New York City subway system” including about homeless persons on the subways and “various conspiracy theories.”
Mr James is scheduled to appear in court for the first time in New York on Thursday.