NEW YORK — The suspect wanted for the Brooklyn subway shooting spree was arrested Wednesday, ending a search for the man who blasted 10 passengers a day earlier before fleeing, the New York Police Department announced.
Frank R. James was arrested in Manhattan on a federal warrant and will face a hearing in federal court, with a police source indicating he was busted after East Village residents spotted the wanted man and called police. Twitter postings showed the suspect in handcuffs, wearing a blue shirt and sweatpants.
“My fellow New Yorkers, we got him,” said Mayor Eric Adams. “We got him. We cannot thank the men and women of the New York Police Department enough.”
James, 61, disappeared Tuesday after allegedly firing nearly three dozen bullets inside a a packed morning rush hour N train, with 10 riders shot and 13 more injured around 8:30 a.m. No details or charges were immediately known.
“I’m happy that he’s alive, that he didn’t kill himself like the cowards do when they do something like this,” said Catherine Garcia, 34, of Bay Ridge, who was on the train when the shooting started. “I’m happy they caught him. I want him to know I went to work today. ... He’s not going to take away my sense as a true New Yorker.”
The arrest came after the NYPD released new images Wednesday of the suspected subway shooter as a massive manhunt continued. Adams said earlier that James was officially a suspect in the attack in which a smoke bomb was detonated before the gunman opened fire inside the cramped car.
Smartphones around the city blared with alerts urging New Yorkers to contact authorities with any information about the suspect, and police made good on Adams’ vow that the suspect would be put in handcuffs.
“There was a clear desire to create terror,” said Adams during a morning appearance on WNYC. “When you bring a smoke bomb, when you bring an automatic weapon, wear a gas mask, in a very methodical way injure and attempt to harm innocent New Yorkers — that is terror. We’re going to call it as we see it.”
The motive behind the shooting spree remained unclear. A police source said it was a miracle that no one was killed, and investigators recovered 33 shell casings from a 9 mm pistol inside the car where James allegedly was heard to say “start running” before the shooting began.
NYU-Langone Hospital-Brooklyn treated 21 of the train victims for smoke inhalation and gunshot wounds, with 16 released by Wednesday morning and the remaining five listed in stable condition. Two of the shooting victims were still receiving treatment at Maimonides Hospital, where three other victims were treated and released.
The gun was recovered at the scene, along with the 33 shell casings, 15 more bullets, a hatchet and a bag filled with fireworks and smoke grenades, said Chief of Detectives James Essig. James has a criminal record in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, according to police sources.
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