NEW YORK (WABC) – Frank R. James, the man wanted for shooting on a subway train in Brooklyn, is facing charges Thursday in federal court.
James, 62, is the man authorities say has put on a gas mask, dropped a smoke bomb and opened fire on a crowded Brooklyn subway on Tuesday morning.
He was detained on Wednesday afternoon.
New York City Police Commissioner Kichant Sewell said James was spotted by passersby in the St. Louis area. Marks Place and First Avenue in the East Village.
Among the calls received by Crime Stoppers was a person alleged to be the suspect himself.
According to police sources, James called the New York police and told them that he was the man the police were looking for and that he wanted to surrender.
“I think you’re looking for me,” said the caller. “I see my picture in all the news and I’ll be around this McDonald’s.”
He is said to have given a name and a description of what he was wearing. He reportedly told police that his phone was dying and that he would either be at McDonald’s to charge his phone or at the front when police arrived.
As police responded, he had left McDonald’s on East 6th Street and First Avenue.
When employees did not find him in the restaurant, they wandered around the neighborhood looking for him. According to police sources, good Samaritans have told police they believe the suspect is down in the block.
James was then spotted standing in front of a pavilion, charging his phone. He was arrested without incident at St. Mark’s Place and First Avenue and was transported to the 9th District.
“My colleagues from New York, we caught him,” said Mayor Eric Adams. “We caught him.”
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James will be charged under a federal law that prohibits terrorist and other violent attacks in the mass transportation system. The federal government will also accuse him of crossing state borders.
We hope this arrest has brought some comfort to the victims and residents of New York City, “Sewell said.” We have used every resource we have to gather and process significant evidence that directly links Mr. James to the shooting. We were able to quickly shrink his world. There was nowhere to run.
Watch the full special report on James’ arrest here:
Officials say the investigation is ongoing and are urging anyone with additional information to call the New York City Police Crime Hotline on 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or in Spanish on 1-888-57- TRACK (74782).
James will face up to life in prison if convicted of the attack, in which at least 29 people were shot or otherwise injured, shaking a city already nervous about the sharp rise in crime.
Officials said any potential motive remained unclear, but witnesses said the lone shooter was seen muttering while wearing a reflective vest before putting on a gas mask and removing a box from his bag, which then filled the car with smoke. Then he started firing.
Ten people were hit by bullets, while others were injured or injured in the ensuing chaos.
None of the injuries were considered life-threatening, and authorities said a magazine stuck in the gun could have saved lives.
After the shooting, Chief of Detective James Esig of the New York Police Department said that James boarded train R, which stopped at the station and passed one stop before leaving at 25th Street station. James was then seen again at a Park Slope subway station just under an hour later before disappearing from view.
Authorities identified James as a person of interest on Tuesday night, but by Wednesday, after an investigation linked James to the crime in many ways, Mayor Eric Adams said he was considered a suspected and wanted fugitive.
The decision was made overnight after more than 18 hours of investigation, which included videos, cell phone data and witness interviews.
“There was a clear desire to create terror,” Adams said. “If you bring a smoke bomb or you would bring a semi-automatic weapon with a gas mask and in a very methodical way wounded … innocent New Yorkers, this is terror.”
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While the cameras at the station were not working, law enforcement officers were able to obtain an image of the suspect from a video on a mobile phone of a random person. New York police then found a U-Haul van on the Kings Highway in Gravesend, for which James said he was driving to New York from Philadelphia on Monday.
They said the pillow inside indicated he may have slept there, and the nearby metro station is where they believe he entered the system.
The keys to the van were found in the shooter’s possession left at the subway station, said NYPD chief of detectives James Essig.
Also found at the scene were a 9mm Glock semi-automatic pistol, three extended cartridges, an ax, petrol, four smoke grenades (two detonated and two unexploded) and a consumer-class fireworks bag, as well as a credit card used by the authorities to hire U -Howl. The gun was purchased from a licensed pawn shop in Ohio in 2011, the ATF found.
The gun and the purchase of a gas mask on eBay are among the evidence that elevated James from a person of interest to a suspect, sources said.
Investigators also found it more convenient to call James a suspect after re-examining witnesses who initially described the shooter’s height, which did not match James’s 6-foot 2-meter frame.
Phantom Fireworks confirmed in a statement that James had bought products in Wisconsin that were believed to have been abandoned at 36th Street Subway Station.
Authorities have not found any meaningful arrests for a crime in James’s criminal history, but only a number of criminal charges. But James was known to New York police for a six-year rap list from 1992 to 1998, with nine previous arrests.
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James ‘obscene social media posts appear to be highly critical of the mayor for his homeless policies, including videos full of racist and sexist insults and controversy over Adams’ crackdown on subway people.
Mayor Adams appeared in “Good Morning America” on Wednesday and said authorities were considering using state-of-the-art metal detectors in the city’s subway system.
“These aren’t the traditional metal detectors you see at airports,” Adams said. “Technology has advanced so much. Come to think of it, we have not advanced with technology. Cities … when it comes to better protecting citizens, I am open to all technologies.”
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