The Suspect wanted in connection with the New York Subway Mass Shooting has been arrested after a massive manhunt, 62-year-old Frank James was taken into custody about 30 hours after the violence on a rush-hour train, which left people around the city on edge.
James didn’t respond to reporters’ shouted questions as he was led to a police car Wednesday afternoon.
James was on the run after police identified him late Tuesday as a person of Interest in the shooting, then upgraded him to a suspect this morning.
Police had urged the public to help find him, releasing his name and photo and even sending a cellphone alert before they got a tip Wednesday.
The person who tipped police off to his where-abouts was James, calling to say he knew he was wanted and police could find him at a McDonald’s in Manhattan’s East Village neighborhood, two law enforcement officials said. They weren’t authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity.
James was gone when officers arrived, but they soon spotted him on a busy corner nearby, Chief of Department Kenneth Corey said.
One witness said he saw four police cars zoom past, and when he caught up to them, a compliant James was in handcuffs as a crowd of people looked on. The arrest was caught on video.
Police say James shot 10 people and is responsible for injuring 13 more as they rushed off the train car and suffered smoke inhalation.
According to police, James detonated two smoke grenades and fired at least 33 shots with a 9 mm handgun in the subway car, which was packed with commuters.
According to Chief of Detectives James Essig, when the first smoke bomb went off, a passenger asked what he was doing, “Oops,” James said, set off a second, then brandished the gun and opened fire.
When the train stopped at a station and terrified riders fled, James apparently hopped another train, the same one many were steered to for safety, police said. He got out at the next station, disappearing into the nation’s most populous city.
New surveillance video appears to show James wearing an orange reflective vest and hard hat as he went through the turnstiles of a subway station. He is also seen in the footage on his way to the subway station, wheeling luggage down the street.
Officials are also investigating recent social media posts reportedly made by James that officials described as “concerning”
Those videos, which number in the hundreds, use black nationalist rhetoric, violent language and racist comments.
In one video that was shot two days before the shooting, James ranted about how black people were forced into crime. He also spoke about gangs saying, ‘This is what white b*%^$ hite m***%^F*^& ers’ expect you to be… when you blow one of their f*&^ brains out – this is what you asked for’
James is due to appear in court Thursday on a charge that pertains to terrorist or other violent attacks against mass transit systems and carries a sentence of up to life in prison, Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said.
