Suspect described a ‘mental health crisis’ and railed against mayor in videos
This is Frank James who is a person of interest in this investigation. Any information can be directed to @NYPDTips at 800-577-TIPS. pic.twitter.com/yBpenmsX67
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) April 12, 2022
On 4/12/22 at 8:30 AM, Frank Robert James fired numerous gun shots inside an “N” line subway car at 36th St & 4th Ave subway station causing serious injuries to 10 people. Anyone with info about the incident or his whereabouts should contact @NYPDTips or call 1-800-577-TIPS. pic.twitter.com/MaeF16i4bX
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) April 13, 2022
Just witnessed the subway shooter Frank James being arrested in the middle of the East Village…crazy…. pic.twitter.com/g5CJsUpUSF
— chimichurri (@Ayy_Korobow) April 13, 2022
The suspect in the New York City subway shooting was arrested on April 13 and charged with terrorism.
Frank James, 62, was stopped at 1:42 p.m. at the corner of St. Mark’s Place and First Avenue in the borough of Manhattan by New York police officers.
A tipster alerted police to the location of James, New York Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell told a briefing.
“My fellow New Yorkers, we got him,” New York Mayor Eric Adams added.
James was taken into custody without incident.
He has already been charged with violating a federal law that prohibits terrorist attacks and other violence against mass transportation systems and will face additional counts, according to Breon Peace, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York.
A man authorities say is James donned a gas mask on Tuesday morning and opened two canisters that filled a Manhattan-bound “N” train with smoke before opening fire as a train pulled into the 36th Street Station in the borough of Brooklyn.
Video footage taken by witnesses showed shots ring out and people fleeing the train.
James popped out from a station that is one station away from the scene of the shooting, according to an affidavit in support of an arrest warrant.
He was on the loose for approximately 29 hours.
James traveled from Wisconsin to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he rented an apartment and had a storage unit, according to videos on his YouTube page and law enforcement officials.
James has a lengthy criminal record, including nine arrests in New York and three in New Jersey.
But he was never convicted of a felony, which enabled him to legally obtain a gun, James Essig, an NYPD official, told reporters.
Records from U-Haul show James rented a vehicle in Philadelphia. Surveillance cameras captured the vehicle being driven into New York just hours before the attack. One camera showed him walking on foot away from the van near a subway station, while footage released by the NYPD showed him entering the station through a turnstile.
The van was recovered in Brooklyn, as was the key to the vehicle.
Detectives at the crime scene also recovered a 9-millimeter semi-automatic handgun, magazines, a hatchet, a liquid believed to be gasoline, a bag with consumer-grade fireworks, and a hobby fuse.
James listed Lucent Technologies, an information technology consulting firm, as his place of employment. The company did not respond to a request for comment.