Frank R. James, the 62-year-old who police say is responsible for Tuesday’s subway shooting in New York City, was apprehended Wednesday afternoon after an intensive manhunt.
“We got him,” Mayor Eric Adams said. “We got him.”
The New York Times reports:
Mr. James was arrested in the East Village, officials said, and has been charged with having committed a terrorist act on a mass transit system, according to Breon S. Peace, the U.S. attorney for New York’s Eastern District. If convicted, Mr. James could face a sentence of up to life in prison.
Keechant Sewell, New York’s police commissioner, said that Mr. James had been stopped in response to a Crime Stoppers tip and that he was taken into custody without incident. She said Mr. James would be charged with having committed the shooting on Tuesday.
“We were able to shrink his world quickly,” Commissioner Sewell said. “There was nowhere left for him to run.”
Officials said that Mr. James had left the N train where the shooting had taken place and taken a local train, the R train, which several of his victims also fled to. He exited the subway system at 25th street and fled, managing to escape law enforcement for more than 24 hours.
The Times adds:
Officials said that Mr. James was apprehended thanks to a tip that came in from a McDonald’s on Sixth Street and First Avenue. Officers responded to the McDonald’s, and when Mr. James was not present, they began driving around the neighborhood. They found him on the corner of St. Marks Place and 1st Avenue, one of the busiest intersections in the East Village, and took him into custody without incident.
New York Police Department Chief of Detectives James Essig outlined James’ criminal history on Wednesday.
“He is known to us and has ties in Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York City. His arrest history in New York is nine prior arrests, dating from 1992 to 1998. Those include possession of burglary tools four times, criminal sex act, theft of service two times. He was arrested on a New Jersey warrant. He also has a criminal tampering,” Essig explained.
James was also arrested three times in New Jersey since 1991.
The Wall Street Journal provides background information:
The attack Tuesday occurred as a Manhattan-bound train was approaching the 36th Street station at about 8:30 a.m. ET. The suspect put on a gas mask and took a canister out of his bag and opened it, filling the train car with smoke, said New York City Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell.
“He then opened fire, striking multiple people on the subway and on the platform,” Ms. Sewell said at a news conference Tuesday afternoon.
Ten people were injured by gunfire, and 13 others were treated for smoke inhalation, panic attacks or falls. At least seven victims remain hospitalized Wednesday in stable condition, according to spokeswomen at two hospitals.
