Frank James has been named a suspect after the shooting in NYC yesterday
In Brooklyn yesterday around 8:30 A.M. a gunman opened fire on the bust subway train on 36th street injuring 23 people and 10 of those were shot. At this time the New York Police Department says no injuries are believed to be life-threatening.
Tuesday evening the NYPD named a “person of interest” believed to be the gunman in the mass shooting that took place earlier that day. The now suspect Frank James, 62-year-old rented a U-Haul in Philadelphia according to the NYPD. The police department says they were able to recover a key to the van, which, was found in a collection of belongings on the train that they believed belonged to the gunman, including a Glock 9-millimeter handgun, three ammunition magazines, a hatchet, fireworks, and a liquid believed to be gasoline.
The police were able to find the U-Haul van roughly 5 miles away from the Kings Highway station. This is where the NYPD says the gunman had gotten on the subway, and five miles from the 36th Street station, where the shooting unfolded.
At this hour James is still at large but the police chief Essig Tuesday during a press conference on Tuesday “We are endeavoring to locate him to determine his connection to the subway shooting, if any.”
Police also say that Frank James has a residence in Philadelphia and Wisconsin.
In the days leading up to the attack, Frank James went on YouTube blaming black women for violence among black people. James also often pointed to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as evidence that whites are genocidal. Among other rants, he would post to YouTube.
Investigators say shortly before 8:30 A.M. a heavyset black man entered the subway with a construction vest on with a gas mask as a crowded N train approached the 36th station in the Sunset Park neighborhood. Frank James, then threw two smoke bombs onto the train then shot thirty-three shots, and fled the scene.
Ten people were hit by gunfire, the police said. Five of the victims were critically injured, but none of their wounds were life-threatening, the Fire Department said. The 10 gunshot victims made the shooting the worst in the history of the New York City subway. Another 13 people suffered injuries related to smoke inhalation, falls or panic attacks, Chief Essig said.
Leading up to the shooting Frank James often went on rants on social media about newly elected Mayor Eric Adams and his new policies. The Police chief said that Mayor Adams’s security detail would be increased in light of the events that happened during the day and what was found on Frank James’s YouTube.
It is important to note that Frank James was not named as a suspect originally. When the police identify someone as a person of interest when they believe the individual may have information related to a crime.
New York’s police commissioner, Keechant Sewell, said that citizens should call with any information they had on Mr. James. In addition to the police asking for the public’s assistance the authorities offered up to $50,000 in reward money for information leading to the arrest and indictment of a suspect in the attack.
