What we know about the Brooklyn subway shooting and its connection to Philadelphia
New York police said Frank R. James had addresses in Philadelphia and Wisconsin, and rented a U-Haul van in Philadelphia linked to the subway shooting.
The day after a shooting in a Brooklyn subway train left 10 people shot and 13 others needing medical attention, police on Wednesday afternoon arrested the man accused of the attack.
Frank R. James was arrested in Manhattan, a law enforcement officials announced. An unidentified person on Wednesday afternoon called in a Crimestoppers tip identifying James as being in the East Village area of New York City, according to a New York police briefing
Officers from the Ninth Precinct acted on the tip and arrested James at 1:42 p.m. Wednesday on the corner of St. Mark’s Place and First Avenue.
“Thirty-three shots but less than 30 hours later, we’re able to say ‘We got him,’” New York Mayor Eric Adams said Wednesday afternoon after James was arrested.
» READ MORE: Man wanted in Brooklyn subway attack arrested, official says
Authorities were examining social media videos in which the 62-year-old decried the U.S. as a racist place awash in violence and railed against New York City’s mayor, Eric Adams.
New York Police Chief of Detectives James Essig said that James had prior encounters with New York Police, with nine arrests between 1992 and 1998.
James had ties to Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Jersey and had three arrests in New Jersey for charges including trespassing, larceny and disorderly conduct.
James was charged on Wednesday with committing a terrorist attack on a mass transportation system, said Breon S. Peace, the U.S. attorney for New York’s Eastern District. If convicted, James faces up to life in prison.
» READ MORE: Person of interest in Brooklyn subway attack is now considered a suspect
What happened?
New York police said 10 people were shot and 13 others required medical attention after a gunman fired 33 shots and discharged smoke canisters on a Manhattan-bound train just before 8:30 a.m. Tuesday.
Police recovered a semiautomatic handgun at the scene, as well as three extended magazines, a hatchet, fireworks, and gasoline. At the Wednesday afternoon briefing, John Devito, Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Division of the ATF, said that the gun James allegedly used in the shooting was 16 years old and had been purchased by James legally in Ohio in 2011.
Despite some reports, the FBI had not been investigating James prior to the shooting, said Michael J. Driscoll, the assistant director in charge of the F.B.I.’s New York office.
What is the connection to Philadelphia?
The New York Post reported that detectives had found a credit card at the scene that they suspected belonged to the shooter, and one of the charges on the card was for a U-Haul rental out of Philadelphia. The New York Police Department said a U-Haul key found at the scene of the shooting led to the discovery of the van in Brooklyn, and identified James as the renter of the van.
On Tuesday, New York police said James had addresses in Philadelphia and Wisconsin, and rented a U-Haul van linked to the subway shooting from a rental location in Philadelphia.
Televised images of the U-Haul van showed lettering on the side that said “Allegheny West Moving and Storage,” which has an address on Hunting Park Avenue in the Nicetown section of Philadelphia, and a phone number with a local area code.
In a video posted on YouTube on March 20, James laid out his plan to pack up his apartment in Milwaukee and drive a rented U-Haul to Philadelphia. The YouTube video, along with James’ other social media accounts, have been taken down.
James left Milwaukee on March 20, he said in a YouTube video, to drive to New York. He stopped in Pittsburgh on March 21, he said, with the goal of making it to Philadelphia by March 22. In another video, he said that he planned to stay at a hotel in New Jersey, “right across the bridge” from Philly.
Speaking at a regularly scheduled gun violence briefing, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw confirmed that the suspect had rented a van from a U-Haul in Philadelphia, but declined to comment further. Outlaw declined to answer several specific questions, including where police searched in Philadelphia, whether he was known to police here, and whether they had any indication that James was in the area recently.
“We know that a U-Haul vehicle operated by the person involved was rented a day before the attack from a facility here in Philadelphia and as such, our personnel are assisting the New York Police Department and FBI investigators in as many ways as we can, however they need us, as the search continues for the shooter there,” she said Wednesday. She deferred further questions to the FBI and NYPD.
Chief Inspector Frank Vanore said he sent members of the Philadelphia Police Homicide Fugitive Task Force out Tuesday to support and assist NYPD and FBI personnel while visiting locations associated with James in Philadelphia. Other than the U-Haul rental site, Vanore declined to say where investigators went.
According to Vanore, Philadelphia Police “backed out of the investigation” as of Tuesday night, he said.
Who is Frank R. James?
James, 62, was identified as the renter of the van by the NYPD. James has addresses in Philadelphia and Wisconsin, according to the NYPD, and — after initially being identified as a person of interest — was sought as a suspect in the shooting.
» READ MORE: Person of interest in Brooklyn subway shooting rented U-Haul van in Philadelphia, police say
The NYPD released two images of James, including one that appears to come from a YouTube channel.
In a 2019 video, he recalls living in Philadelphia around 2007 and 2008. “I like that city, and I can’t explain to you why,” he says.
What was the motive of the Brooklyn shooting?
As of Wednesday, the motive was unknown. Investigators had examined James’ social media, including his YouTube channels, which featured numerous rants, especially about race and violence. In one video, it appears that James is criticizing Adams for recent policies regarding public safety in the subways.
Law enforcement officials not provide a motive for the shooting at the Wednesday afternoon briefing.
Has Frank R. James been arrested?
James was arrested on Wednesday afternoon, according to law enforcement officials. Using surveillance footage at subway stations and throughout New York City, police were able to track James’ movement from minutes after the shooting to his arrest in the East Village on Wednesday.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.