NYPD officers patrol platforms at the 36th Street subway station where a shooting attack occurred the previous day during the morning commute. (AP)The New York Police Department has identified Frank James as a suspect in the Brooklyn subway shooting, CNN reported. The police had earlier named James a “person of interest” in the shooting case in which 23 people were injured in a Tuesday morning rush-hour attack that prompted new calls to fight a surge of violence in the city’s transit system. Authorities have offered rewards totaling $50,000 for information leading to the arrest of the gunman, who the police said, is believed to have acted alone.
A gunman in a gas mask and construction vest set off a smoke grenade and fired a barrage of at least 33 bullets in a rush-hour subway train. The manhunt initially centered around a U-Haul van found hours afterward parked on a Brooklyn street, and on a “person of interest” identified by police as Frank James, who was believed to have rented the vehicle in Philadelphia.
Ten people were hit directly by gunfire, including five hospitalised in critical but stable condition, authorities said. Police said 13 more people suffered from smoke inhalation or were otherwise injured in the chaos as panicked riders fled the smoke-filled subway car. All of the victims were expected to survive their injuries, police said.
(With inputs from agencies)
A photo of the van that police say is connected with the shooting at a subway station as law enforcement officers conduct an investigation in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, New York, US, April 12, 2022. (Reuters)
A 62-year-old male, initially identified as a ‘Person of Interest' by the New York Police Department (NYPD) in the Brooklyn subway shooting, has now been named suspect in the attack that left 23 people injured, including 10 who were hit when he fired at least 33 shots with a nine mm handgun.
The NYPD said Wednesday morning that Frank Robert James fired numerous gun shots inside an "N" line subway car at 36th St & 4th Ave subway station, causing serious injuries to 10 people on Tuesday at 8:30 am.
James is still at large and the police is asking anyone with information about the incident or his whereabouts to contact authorities. James, wearing a neon orange vest and construction helmet, grey coloured sweatshirt and a surgical mask, was identified as the “person of interest” in the Brooklyn subway station shooting hours after the carnage unfolded in the local subway train during the rush hour morning commute Tuesday. (PTI)
The New York City Transit (NYCT) subway Wednesday informed that it was running full service on all of its lines after the NYPD completed its investigation at Brooklyn in connection with the mass shooting case. The trains are also making a stop at the the 36th Street subway, it said.
Visuals of panic at New York City subway after mass shooting on Tuesday.
Police cars and ambulances lined up outside New York City subway where at least 23 people were injured after a gunman set off two smoke bombs and opened fire.
US President Joe Biden said he and his wife Jill Biden were praying for those injured in the New York City subway shooting. Biden took to Twitter earlier on Wednesday to thank the first responders and civilians.
New York City agencies have also announced a joint $50,000 reward for any information leading to the arrest of the suspect, according to a statement from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA).
Frank R James has been named as the "Person of Interest" and the police said it is "endeavouring to locate him to determine his connection to the subway shooting if any."
NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig said there is a $50,000 reward for information about the suspect and the attack. "We are looking to determine" if James has "any connection to the train." (PTI)
China's foreign ministry confirmed that no Chinese national has been injured in the Brooklyn subway shooting, said China's CGTN news organisation Wednesday.
Boston officials will increase the number of police around subway stations ahead of Monday's Boston Marathon after a mass shooting in a New York subway but stressed there was no known threat to the race and voiced confidence in it going ahead.
"There is no known credible threat to the marathon. Like everybody else, we're monitoring the situation in New York," Boston Police Superintendent-In-Chief Gregory Long told a news conference on Tuesday, adding that his department had been in touch with their New York counterparts and the FBI.
"In the short term you can expect to see an increased police presence around MBTA stations the next couple of days through the weekend. In terms of Monday, depending on what kind of information we have and intelligence, we'll adjust our assets accordingly around the marathon," he said. Security is of top concern for local authorities with heightened measures put in place after the Boston Marathon bombing attacks of 2013. (Reuters)
Much is still unknown about the attack on the subway earlier on Wednesday, including whether it was an act of terrorism. After the September 11 terror attacks, New Yorkers learned to live with the worry that the subways or other parts of the city could be a terror target.
Some of the previous attacks in the city include:
➡️ In 2017, an Islamic State group sympathiser detonated a pipe bomb strapped to his chest in a subway station near the Port Authority Bus Terminal, injuring several bystanders.
➡️ That same year, the city began expanding the use of vehicle-blocking sidewalk barriers after two attacks. In one, a man who prosecutors said was supportive of IS drove a rented truck down a bicycle path along the Hudson River, killing eight people and maiming others. In another, a psychologically disturbed man drove a car at high speed into pedestrians in Times Square, killing one and injuring as many as 20.
➡️ In 2016, a man who prosecutors said sympathised with Osama bin Laden set off homemade bombs in Manhattan and New Jersey, injuring some bystanders, before being captured in a shootout with police.
➡️ In 2010 a man tried to set off a car bomb in Times Square, only to have it fizzle. (AP)
Hours after the shooting that injured nearly two dozen commuters, New York Governor Kathy Hochul posted a photo on social media showing her riding the train.
'Thank you to our MTA [Metropolitan Transit Authority] workers who always keep New Yorkers moving,' she wrote on Twitter.
An everyday morning commute turned into a scene of horror Tuesday with witnesses describing a smoke-filled underground car, an onslaught of at least 33 bullets, screaming riders running through a station, and bloodied people lying on the platform as others tended to them.
A riders’ videos show a person in a hooded sweatshirt raising an arm and pointing at something as five bangs sound.
Sitting in the back of the train’s second car, the gunman tossed two smoke grenades on the floor, pulled out a Glock 9 mm semi-automatic handgun and started firing, Chief of Detectives James Essig told The Associated Press. He said the police found the weapon, along with extended magazines, a hatchet, detonated and undetonated smoke grenades, a black garbage can, a rolling cart, gasoline and the key to a U-Haul van.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority which is responsible for transportation in the New York City area announced last year that it had installed security cameras in all 472 subway stations citywide. But cameras weren't working at three stations where police went to look for evidence Tuesday, Chief of Detectives James Essig said.
MTA system chief Janno Lieber told TV interviewers he didn't know why the cameras malfunctioned, said an AP report.
As police searched for the shooter, Gov. Kathy Hochul warned New Yorkers to be vigilant. "This individual is still on the loose. This person is dangerous," Hochul said.
At least 23 were injured, five critically, in an attack at the 36th Street subway stop in Sunset Park after a man released two smoke grenades and started shooting. The following graphic card from the New York Times explains how the attack unfolded.
The man whom the police have identified as a person of interest in the subway attack in Brooklyn appears to have posted dozens of videos on social media in recent years — lengthy rants in which he expressed a range of harshly bigoted views and, more recently, criticised the policies of New York City’s mayor, Eric Adams.
The police released a screenshot of James taken from a YouTube video posted by a channel belonging to the username prophetoftruth88.The videos featured a man — who appeared to be the same man in a picture released by the police — delivering extended tirades, many of them overtly concerned with race and violence, often tying those subjects in with current events, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the policies of Adams. Two law enforcement officials said that James was the person featured in the channel’s videos. (Read more)
Ride-sharing app Uber announced that it has capped fares across New York City following the shooting in the Brooklyn subway. The app was criticised on social media for implementing surge pricing in the aftermath of the shooting. Uber said it will work on refunding those who have been affected by the hike in fares.
On videos captured inside a smoke-choked subway car, commuters can be seen hunching into their collars, pulling sleeves and hoods across their faces, trying to breathe. Before the doors open, there are few panicked screams — just the familiar muffled shriek of a rush hour train on its tracks, punctuated by moans of pain.
When the familiar “ding” of the doors opening sounds at the next stop, riders burst off, gasping amid curls of smoke.
“There’s been a shooting!” a woman says as she flees. Behind her a man limps out from the car.
At an early evening news briefing, police named a "person of interest" in the investigation as Frank James, who investigators believed had rented the U-Haul vehicle.
Police said they recovered the key to the van at the crime scene and it had been rented in Philadelphia. James had addresses in Philadelphia and Wisconsin, officials said.
The subway assailant was described by police from eyewitness accounts as a man of heavy build, wearing an orange vest, a gray sweatshirt, a green helmet and surgical mask.
Eric Adams ran for mayor of New York City with campaign ads featuring old photographs of him in his police uniform and a vow to secure a pandemic-scarred metropolis against the gun violence that surged alongside Covid-19.
On his 102nd day in office, Adams, a former police captain, faced the latest challenge in his efforts to allay New Yorkers' fears: A gunman opened fire on a subway car Tuesday morning, shooting 10 people.
Violent crime has risen across the United States over the pandemic, and New York City has been no exception. While the city remains one of the safest in the country and far less dangerous than it was in the 1990s, when Adams was rising through the New York City Police Department's ranks, the new mayor has revived some of the tough-on-crime policing tactics associated with that era under the Republican mayor Rudy Giuliani. (Reuters)
A gunman in a gas mask and construction vest set off a smoke grenade and fired a barrage of at least 33 bullets in a rush-hour subway train, shooting at least 10 people Tuesday, authorities said. Police were scouring the city for the shooter and trying to track down the renter of a van possibly connected to the violence.
A scene of horror unfolded as frightened commuters ran from the train as others limped out of it. At least one rider collapsed on the platform.
"My subway door opened into calamity. It was smoke and blood and people screaming," eyewitness Sam Carcamo told radio station 1010 WINS. Smoke poured out of the train car as the door opened, he added.
Five people were in critical condition but expected to survive. At least 29 in all were treated at hospitals for gunshot wounds, smoke inhalation and other conditions, according to hospitals.
The gunfire erupted on a train that pulled into a station in the Sunset Park neighbourhood, about a 15-minute ride from Manhattan and predominantly home to Hispanic and Asian communities.
Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell said the attack was not being investigated as terrorism, but that she was "not ruling out anything." The shooter's motive was unknown.
Authorities found a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun at the scene, along with extended magazines, a hatchet, both detonated and undetonated smoke grenades, a black garbage can, a rolling cart, gasoline and key to a U-Haul van, Chief of Detectives James Essig said.
He said the key led investigators to the van renter, who they said has addresses in Philadelphia and Wisconsin. Authorities were looking for him, but Essig stressed that it wasn't yet clear whether the man was linked to the shooting. (AP)
New York City police named Frank R James, 62, as a 'person of interest' in the subway shooting. James has addresses in Philadelphia and Wisconsin. NYC Police have also announced a $50,000 reward for any information.