Frank James, a 62-year-old African American suspect who has been wanted for more than 24 hours, was arrested in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan.
What happened on Tuesday?
Around 8:30 a.m. Tuesday morning in New York City, the suspect, wearing a gas mask, ignited two devices smoking the car on a crowded N Line train and then shot passengers as the train pulled into the 36th Street station in South Brooklyn, wounding 23 of whom 10 were shot. According to the authorities, 33 bullets were fired.
Several teenagers were among the victims in the hospital, said the state governor, Kathy Hochul, on Tuesday evening.
23 people were injured in a subway shooting in New York City on Tuesday.
Angela Weiss/AFP
What do we know about the alleged shooter?
The police had launched a manhunt to find the suspect as soon as possible by posting his photo on social media. Police quickly went back to Frank James, reports the New York Times. A credit card in his name was found at the scene, along with the key to a van he rented, a pistol, three rounds of ammunition, a hatchet and explosives.
The suspect is not unknown to the police. He has already been arrested twelve times in New York and New Jersey, including for sex offenses, theft, and disturbance of public order, according to CNN. However, he had never been convicted of a crime in New York State, which allowed him to purchase a gun.
The sixty-year-old regularly posted videos on his YouTube channel, entitled prophetoftruth88, which translates to prophet of truth. It was removed from the site Wednesday morning for “violating community rules.” According to American media who were able to view these videos, Frank James made racist, homophobic and misogynist statements and spoke of insecurity in New York. The New York Times emphasized that the city’s new mayor, Eric Adams, was one of his recurring targets.
In the final video, posted the day before the shooting, he explained that he’s been through “a lot of bullshit where I can say I wanted to kill people. I immediately wanted to see people dying right before my eyes. But I’ve been thinking, hey man, I don’t want to go to a friggin’ prison,” says CNN. Last week he said: “We need to see more mass shootings. Yes… We need to see more. »
What is he at risk for?
Frank James, whose motives have yet to be determined, is due to be tried in a Brooklyn court this Thursday. He is now “under federal prosecution for his act, a terrorist attack on public transport,” the federal police said.