Screams, passengers lying on the floor of a train, pools of blood… The man suspected of causing chaos by shooting on a New York subway on Tuesday morning was arrested on Wednesday after an intensive investigation. He will be prosecuted for “terrorist attack,” said the New York authorities.
The suspect, who wreaked havoc on the subway system the previous day, was arrested at 1:42 p.m. thanks to a complaint in Manhattan, according to New York police. “We got it,” New York Mayor Eric Adams, Democratic Mayor, welcomed at a press conference on crime-fighting, which he made a campaign issue last year.
Police had been conducting a manhunt for more than 24 hours for Frank James, a 62-year-old African American man accused of shooting multiple gunshots on an N-Line train at the 36th Street station in south Brooklyn. The man known to the police has already been arrested twelve times in New York and New Jersey, including for “sexual offenses”, “theft” or “disturbing public order,” authorities said.
But he had never been convicted of a crime in New York State. He is now “under federal prosecution for his crime, a terrorist attack on public transportation,” announced Federal Police Officer Michael Driscoll. “He will appear in federal court in Brooklyn and, if convicted, will face life imprisonment,” prosecutor Breon Peace said.
Since that attack which left 23 injured – ten people shot dead, thirteen others getting off the subway or from smoke inhalation – police have been on the trail of a 62-year-old suspect, identified as Frank Robert James.
On 4/12/22 at 8:30 am, Frank Robert James fired numerous shots in an “N” subway car at the 36th St & 4th Ave subway station, seriously injuring 10 people. Anyone with information about the incident or his whereabouts should get in touch @NYPDTips or call 1-800-577-TIPS. pic.twitter.com/MaeF16i4bX
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) April 13, 2022
New York police had announced a $50,000 reward for anyone who provided information leading to the suspect’s whereabouts.
“Based on initial investigations, the man would have acted alone,” City Mayor Eric Adams told ABC News. The motives for his actions are not yet known, CNN specifies.
According to the New York Post, James rented a “U-Haul” van that has been linked to the attack, authorities said at a news conference on Tuesday. The suspect had posted several rambling and conspiratorial YouTube videos, speaking out against the city’s mental health services, complaining about racial issues and speaking out violently against people he believes have wronged him. In one of his videos, he faces off against Big Apple Mayor Eric Adams, in which he claims that the conflict in Ukraine will be followed by a race war. “It’s only a matter of time before these white sons of bitches decide, ‘Hey, listen, that’s enough, these n**** have to go,'” he also said in one of these videos.
Jammed weapon
At 8:24 a.m. Tuesday, as the metro’s subways were crowded, this man, wearing a gas mask, “opened two canisters, which released smoke into the train. He then shot and killed a number of passengers as the train pulled into the 36th Street station south of Brooklyn, New York City Police Commissioner (NYPD) Keechant Sewell said. A total of 33 bullets were fired. “We were really lucky that it wasn’t much more serious,” she said.
The gunner’s 9mm semi-automatic Glock jammed in the middle of that attack, preventing a larger carnage, according to law enforcement officials. How the gunman escaped was not specified, but police are investigating whether he became part of a wave of passengers who crossed the platform to another train, according to local media.